Black Sees White
by Tinni93
Summary: PR RPM - When Dillon is haunted my memories of his past, he is determined to get answerers. Who was this person he failed to save and will he ever see her again to get a second chance?
1. Fragments of Memories

_**Black Sees White**_

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Power Rangers in any way, shape, or form. ^_^**

He saw her eyes so clearly—white and empty. Any essence of her was gone. It was as if she was lost behind these eyes. Soft, familiar music filled the air. The music came from an open pocket watch on the floor that the girl had dropped. She wore a long white gown that dragged behind her with each slow and stumbling step. Her hair draped over her face making it hard to see her. Her skin was pale and white as a sheet. She reached out her hand reaching for him, speaking his name over and over again.

"Dillon…"

The sound of her voice was almost haunting, it sounded nothing like herself. It was monotone, like she was being controlled.

He turned to see her walking towards him, reaching for him. He reached out his hand in an effort to get hers. He smiled when he felt her touch, although it was very cold. Just as he grabbed her, he felt her being pulled away from him. The figure pulling her away was hard to make out due to the darkness of the room. He could only make out the figure's silhouette—the frame of this mysterious person was nothing like the average person, it was a lot larger. The large person held the girl in one hand and a large sword in the other. He seemed to glisten in the light like he was covered in silver.

"Dillon…" the girl spoke again.

The voice calling out to him seemed different this time—it almost sounded afraid. He gripped her hand as tight as he could to keep her near him, but the figure pulling her away was stronger than he was, he couldn't hang on. With each passing second he felt his grip on her loosening.

Then the strange man in silver turned to him, glaring him in the eyes. His eyes were white like hers and as he peered back into them he felt a strange sensation fill his body. It was as if someone had flip his functions off, he couldn't move, much less stand. He fell hard to the floor completely unable to move. From here, he saw the girl walking away with the strange man without struggle. She seemed to be completely out of it and he didn't know why.

He slowly found the strength to move his arm; he reached out for her, begging her not to go. His vision shifted in and out of blurs, he tried as hard as he could to stay focused on her, but she was so blurry that it looked like she was underwater. Seconds later, he couldn't see either of them anymore—not the silver creature and not her. He called out her name over and over as a tear streamed down his face. Then he saw a strange bright flash that nearly blinded him. But he didn't care about that, he only care about her. He felt himself scream her name.

"Taryn!!" Dillon screamed, jumping up from his bed. He was drenched in sweat and breathing very quickly. He looked around the room to try and confirm where he was, when he realized he was in his room at the Garage. He hadn't been asleep, but at night when he would lay down, his mind tended to wander as if he was having dreams, very vivid dreams of his past. He sighed and threw his covers off of him, and then headed down the hall to the bathroom.

When he got inside, he flipped the light on and closed the door. He walked over to the sink and began to run the water. He looked at himself in the mirror, he never felt more lost. He still had no idea who he was or where he came from, he was a complete mystery to everyone, including himself. All he had of his past was this reoccurring memory—that he couldn't save a girl named Taryn.

All he saw over and over again were he eyes, her empty, white eyes. And he never knew why he had these memories, but every night like clockwork, he'd see these same images. Sometimes he'd just stay up all night training just so he didn't have these thoughts. But somehow they always found him. Over and over again he saw this strange man in silver pulling this girl away while he lay helpless and paralyzed on the ground. What happened to him when he looked this creature in the eyes? And what was that flash he always saw at the end of his dream? All of this was added to the long list of things he didn't remember about his life or himself for that matter.

Dillon just stared at the running water in front of him. "Taryn…" he spoke again. He reached his hands into the cool water and splashed it against his face. As he rubbed the water against his face, he began to think again. All he wanted was to redo that moment, change anything to save this Taryn girl. He thought that if he had been able to do something, maybe she would still be around and he would know more about himself and her.

Dillon leaned against the white porcelain sink as the water dripped from his face. "Why couldn't I save you?" he asked to himself.

Suddenly, he began to see it all again, quick flashes of everything—her being pulled away from him, himself collapsed on the floor, that odd flash, and most of all, her strange eyes. Rage filled his body and he made his hands into fists. The next thing he knew he was punching the mirror in front of him, shattering it into bits. This finally snapped him out of his thoughts.

The next sound he heard was a light knocking on the door. He walked over to see who was there, and he was relieved when he saw who it was.

"Hey, Summer." He said softy as he headed back over to the sink. She was wearing a small yellow nightdress with small daisies all over it.

"Is everything okay?" she asked as she slowly entered the room. "I thought I heard a crash, like glass shattering." It was at this moment that she saw the broken mirror and Dillon's knuckles bleeding a little. "What happened?" she asked noticing his black wife beater shirt was covered in sweat.

"I'm fine." He answered weakly. "I just have a lot on my mind."

Summer walked a little further into the room. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No, I'll be alright." He told her, running water over his bloody knuckles. He scrubbed his hand way too hard, making his cuts worse. Summer grabbed his hand gently to get him to stop.

"What's wrong, Dillon. If you tell me I may be able to help." Summer told him, looking him in his eyes.

Dillon leaned against the sink again and tightly closed his eyes. "I had that flashback again." He said, "And every time I see it, it always ends at the same place—her being dragged away while I just lie there…I couldn't save her."

Summer opened a nearby closet and pulled out a small white rag. She wrapped and tied the rag around Dillon's hand. "You did all you could." She assured him. "Do you know who she is yet?'

"No." Dillon answered. "All I know is that I have some sort of connection with her. She means something to me…I just don't know what."

"You're smart, Dillon. I know you'll figure this out. And who knows, she may be out there looking for you somewhere." Summer told him.

Dillon whipped his head around to her sadly. "Looking for me? I don't even know if she's alive! All I have is this one memory and it always ends without fail with the flash. That's the only thing I know about my past."

Summer's face grew sad with his, but she was determined to try and make him feel better. "You may not know if she's still alive or not, but I bet she misses you and cares about you just as much as you do with her." In a way, Summer hated say all of this to him. She had a minor crush on Dillon ever since they had their little talk while he was in prison. They both seemed to be real with one another, which gave them a special bond with each other. But if this Taryn person were his wife or girlfriend, she wouldn't want to be the one that kept them apart if she should return.

"I miss her." Dillon said suddenly as he peered down at the sink. "I can barely remember her and yet I miss her."

Summer took his hand in hers and looked into his eyes. "I guarantee you that wherever she is, she misses you too. I know it."

Dillon grabbed one of her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Thanks, Summer." He told her, looking at his bandaged hand. "For everything."

Summer just shrugged and smiled. "Hey, that's what friends are for." As much as it pained her to refer to herself as just a friend, she knew that her worries wouldn't help his situation right now and if she needed to step aside for this Taryn person, she would--as long as Dillon was happy.

At the Venjix barricades, Venjix was hard at work on a mysterious project. The pit beside the large red machine was smoking furiously. General Shifter was also there helping his master in any way that he could. He picked up piece after piece of bright silver metal shards and threw it down into the pit as Venjix instructed. The General walked back and forth heaving piece after piece of metal, he was growing very tired but he didn't want to say anything to his master and end up getting blasted for it.

The General paused for a moment and leaned against the wall to rest. "Master Venjix?" he whined with heaved breaths, "Can you give me an approximate time frame as to when this project will be complete? I know that you want a strong opponent for the rangers, but this is getting rather exhausting. It's been close to two years now."

"Patience, General Shifter. I know this project has been a complicated one, but each moment we continue working on reviving this monster, the higher our chances are of defeating them." Venjix answered. "Now, get back to work before I throw _you_ in the pit."

General Shifter pushed himself off of the wall and reluctantly began to pick up more scrap metal. "Yes, Master Venjix. But I still don't see why we can't get Tenaya to pitch in and help us. We'd get this finished a lot faster." Shifter grumbled.

"You know that right now Tenaya's job is to preoccupy the rangers. If she knew what we were up to, she would try to use the power for nothing more than herself. She'll see this when the time is right." Venjix told his assistant.

"See what when the time is right?" Tenaya asked curiously as she suddenly entered the room with her arms folded.

"This is doesn't concern you right now! And who said you could come in here?" Venjix shouted at her.

"My apologies." Tenaya said with no sincerity. "I just thought that when my name was said in a conversation, that it concerned me." She snapped back.

General Shifter threw down the chunk of metal he was holding and stormed right up to her. "Don't speak to the master like that! Show some respect!"

"Back off you overgrown toolbox!" she yelled down at him. "I could end you right here and now if I wanted too!" she said as she tightened her black glove.

"ENOUGH!! Both of you!" Venjix boomed. "Tenaya, I want you to attack the city and keep the rangers busy. This process won't take much longer—you'll be included soon enough."

Tenaya looked to Venjix, then to General Shifter with a scoff. "Fine, I'll have those rangers gone in no time, just you wait." As she headed out the door, she stopped and turned around to the General, "You better watch your back, Shifter." She warned him, then stormed out of the room.

Shifter growled in frustration as he headed back to his work. "I don't know why you even bother with her! General Crunch and I are far more efficient than she is, and while showing you respect at the same time."

"I know that she is a nuisance, but she's powerful nonetheless." Venjix told him. "Once the rangers are out of the way she should be more pleasant. Let's just keep focus on the task at hand for now."

"As you wish, Master Venjix." Shifter replied, throwing another metal shard in the pit. He always hated it when Tenaya got the last word in. He wished that he could fight her one on one to prove that he was far stronger than she is. He wanted her gone almost as much as he wanted the rangers gone.


	2. A Mirrored Battle

The next morning, Scott, Flynn, Summer and Ziggy were all eating breakfast together. The primary colored rangers all had eggs on their plate while the Green ranger ate some sort of sugary cereal. They all talked and laughed as they ate, enjoying one of their few minutes of the day where Venjix wasn't attacking. Summer immediately noticed when Dillon entered the room. The gauze on his hand had small red stains on it from the night before. He walked across the room to the fridge, which he opened very carefully ever since Doctor K almost blasted him to bits with the blaster she kept in there. He took a small orange juice out and made his way to sit with his friends. He was being noticeably silent, which made the whole table feel awkward. It was like they knew something he didn't.

"Um…hey, Dillon." Scott said looking at him strangely. "You okay?" he asked looking at Dillon's hand.

"Terrific." Dillon answered simply, opening his juice and taking a swig.

Ziggy grabbed the cereal box next to him and showed it to Dillon. "Would you like some cereal?"

"No thanks, I'm fine with just this." Dillon said fidgeting with his juice bottle.

A shock and horrified look hit Ziggy's face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But…it's Caramel Camel Crunch!" he told him pointing to a large camel on the box.

Dillon couldn't help but smile a little. He loved how innocent and childlike Ziggy was. He wished he could be more carefree like him in some ways. He could be annoying and klutzy sometimes, but he was a good ranger and friend. So he grabbed and empty bowl from in front of him and slid it over to the Green Ranger.

"Well, in _that_ case." Dillon said, humoring his friend.

Ziggy excitedly took the bowl and began to pour a mountain of cereal in it. "This has three different kinds of caramel in it, along with a chocolaty coating!"

Ziggy slid the bowl over to his friend. Dillon looked at the sugary mess and cringed a little. "Thanks, Ziggy. This sounds…healthy." He said hesitantly as he poured milk into the bowl and stirred it around. As he did so, Flynn noticed the Black Ranger's gauzed hand.

"Hey, what happened to your hand there?" Flynn asked pointing at it with his fork.

Dillon cleared his throat nervously and began to shift in his seat. "I…uh, cut it changing my tires yesterday. I ran the tire gauge off course and it got me." Dillon lied. It wasn't until the words came out of his mouth that he realized how stupid his sounded. He had never heard of one cutting themselves with a tire gauge, but it was the best lie he could think of at the moment.

"Really?" Scott asked curiously.

Dillon shot him a dirty look. "Yes, _really_." He replied with an annoyed tone.

"Because the mirror in the bathroom was shattered to bits when I went in there this morning. I just figured that you knew something about it." Scott told him, biting into a slice of toast.

As Scott said this Summer looked over at Dillon and could tell that he didn't want to get into everything that happened last night. It was hard enough for him to open up to her, he never really had. She knew that going into something as deep as Taryn right now would only end in him getting frustrated. So she thought fast.

"I did that." She blurted out quickly.

"You?" Flynn asked, not entirely convinced. "How could you shatter a big mirror like that?"

"Um…when I was blow drying my hair this morning, I saw a big spider on the mirror, it startled me and I threw my hairdryer at it to kill it." Summer lied to them. She really didn't come up with a much better excuse than Dillon, and was kicking herself.

Ziggy paused and gave he a strange look. "You threw your hairdryer…at the spider?" he asked slowly.

"It was big." Summer said in her defense.

She looked across the table and saw Dillon trying to stifle his laughter. She was happy that she had found a way to make him laugh, even if it was at her lame lying skills.

"Okaaaaaaay." Scott said, rising from the table to clear his plate.

When no one was looking, Dillon looked over to Summer and mouthed to her, "Throwing a hairdryer?" he asked grinning.

"Cutting your hand on a tire gauge?" She mouth back with a smile.

Dillon chuckled to himself, and then looked at her again. "Thank you." He mouthed to her. Summer just nodded back at him with a smile. It made her feel special that she was the only one he really trusted out of the whole group, truth be told, she felt the same way about him. It wasn't that Dillon didn't trust the other rangers; Summer was the one that really seemed understand him. She could read him like a book, and in some ways, he liked that.

Dillon looked down at the cereal, if you could even call it that, in front of him. He didn't want to hurt Ziggy's feelings, but eating this junk seemed like a hurdle he just couldn't jump. He then felt Ziggy pat him on the back.

"Come on, buddy! Don't le the camels get soggy!" he told him cheerfully. Seconds after, he continued to devour his own bowl.

"Right." Dillon said with distaste. Seeing as how Ziggy was so excited about this, he decided to give in. He sighed as he picked up his spoon. He hesitantly lifted a bite from the bowl and tightly closed his eyes as he brought the spoon closer to his mouth. Just before he could eat it, their morphers went off. Dillon couldn't help but feel relieved, this was the only time he was glad that Venjix was attacking. He happily dropped the spoon back into the bowl.

"Let's move out team!" Scott ordered. Summer, Flynn and Ziggy all rushed from the table to get to their vehicles. "Signals are coming from on top of the Corinth City Museum.!" He told them.

"Saved by the beep." Dillon said with relief, as he went to join the others.

Tenaya stood high on top of the tallest building in Corinth—the Corinth City Museum. She peered down on the people and the atmosphere. She noticed that they sky was a gorgeous shade of blue and the trees looked extra beautiful. She never paid no mind to these things before, but something was different today and she didn't know what. She was jarred out of her thoughts at the sound of the Grinders twitching next to her. For some reason, a part of her didn't want to battle, she wanted to take in the scenery. She liked the way the breeze felt against her face. But she was aware that she had a job to do and she wasn't going to fail at it.

"Today will be the day that I squash those rangers, then Venjix will see that I'm his most powerful asset." She said to herself.

"Hmmm…I've got my doubts about that!" Scott yelled out suddenly from the distance.

Tenaya quickly turned to see her opponents. She saw Ranger Red and his team gathered on the roof in their ranger forms ready for battle. She looked at them in disgust and flipped her mask over her face.

"Come to play rangers?" she asked them, getting in a fighting stance.

"Why don't you just make things easy on yourself and leave, and take your little Grinder buddies with you!" Ziggy shouted at her.

Tenaya let out a wicked chuckle. "Please! You are the ones who need to make things easy on yourselves! You five won't walk away from this battle today!" she warned them.

"Enough of this!" Dillon interjected. "If you want a fight, Tenaya, I'll give you one!" he said pulling out his Nitro Sword. He was sick of all of Tenaya's evil ways and wanted to put a stop to them here and now. He head a lot on his mind what with his memories of Taryn and trying to figure out his past, a little fight with Tenaya was not what he wanted to mess with today.

"Goody! I'm looking forward to destroying you while your friends watch!" Tenaya retaliated. She began to walk around the roof, staring the rangers down. "After all, what harm can you do? You don't even know who you are." She said, trying to hit Dillon where it really hurt—and it was working.

Dillon balled his fists in fury and ran at her. Scott, Flynn, Summer and Ziggy all tried to run after him but a wave of Grinders ambushed them before they could. They tried as fast as they could to ward off the Grinders so they could aid the Black Ranger.

"Dillon, wait!" Summer called out, reaching out an arm to try and stop him.

But Dillon was too angry to stop. He couldn't even hear her calling out to him. He was bound and determined to give Tenaya what she deserved. He ran right at her, throwing a punch at her left shoulder. But Tenaya echoed it with the same attack, causing their fists to hit one another. He next attempted a blow to her face, but Tenaya had gone for the same thing with him, causing their fists to collide once more. He let out a grunt of frustration and decided to try something else. He jumped high in the air and tried to descend with an aerial attack, but she mirrored his actions by jumping as well. With every move he made she seemed to be going for the same thing. There fighting styles seemed to be one and the same. The two faced each other when they hit the ground.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Dillon asked her with a somewhat shocked tone.

"Venjix, who else?!" She yelled as she lunged at him, cross chopping at his stomach. But it was as if he predicted she was going to do so, because he was able to block it with ease. The two both went for a sweep kick at the other one, but their feet hit against one another in the middle, stopping their attacks. While on the ground, the two glared at each other, then back flipped to get on their feet again.

Tenaya felt herself growing slightly nervous. "How are you doing that?" she asked looking the Black Ranger over.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." Dillon said lowly.


	3. Fear

Meanwhile, Scott, Flynn, Summer and Ziggy all handled he Grinders that were thrown at them. Four Grinders surrounded Scott by a wall that lead to the stairs to the roof. Scott just looked at the Grinders in amusement. He held his Nitro Blaster tightly in his hand. He still thought it was funny that Venjix thought a few Grinders like this could slow him down.

"Catch me if you can bot-brains!" he taunted at them.

Furious, the Grinders all moved in on him at once. Thinking quickly, Scott scaled up the wall and back flipped off of it. As he descended, he fired a flurry of shots at the Grinders, annihilating them. Metal and wire were all scattered around him, he laughed at his handiwork.

"That's what I like to call, bringing the pain!" Scott said with a chuckle.

Summer had about nine Grinders on all sides of her in a circle formation. She walked around inside the circles looking each one up and down. She was ready to move and attack at a moment's notice.

"How many rangers does it take to defeat nine Grinders?" she asked as she circled them.

Then, all nine Grinders ran at her full force. Summer began to turn herself about, generating surges, which she fired rapidly at her opponents. The Grinders exploded on impact, leaving nothing but smoke and sparks in their wake. She looked at their remains with a giggle.

"That'd be one." She boasted with a smirk.

Flynn had both of his arms restricted by Grinders and a small group of them not far ahead. He began to fling his arms back and forth to get free of them.

"Let me go you sissies!" he shouted as he saw the group of Grinders dead ahead of him closing in. He had to think on his feet. He used the Grinders tugging on him as leverage to jump high in the air. As he fell towards the ground he began to kick his legs furiously. All of the Grinders staggered backwards from his kicks. When Flynn hit the ground, he threw his arms forward; making the two Grinders that held him crash into one another, freeing him from their grip.

"Turbo Cannon!" he shouted, holding the huge weapon on his shoulder. He fired it mercilessly at the bots, destroying them on contact. "That'll teach you!" he yelled proudly.

Ziggy, unlike the others, found that he was struggling with the Grinders. They were all around him and were slowly encroaching closer. They ambushed him and began to slap him around, causing the gears on his legs to make him spin out of control. When he finally got his bearings back, he kicked his leg high at one of the targets. But the Grinder grabbed the Green Ranger's leg and pushed it up higher.

"Ow, ow, ow!!" Ziggy cried as his leg began to burn. The Grinder then pushed Ziggy into a wall directly behind him. Ziggy's back crashed against the wall, but his leg was freed. He saw that a Grinder was going to throw a punch at his face, so he ducked, making the Grinder smash it's hand into the cement wall. The Grinder shook it's hand back and forth and Ziggy took this as an opportunity to nail him in the gut. The machine staggered back into the other Grinders making them crash and fall into one another.

"Come on, Ziggy think! You have to act fast here!" he yelled at himself. He quickly made it to his feet and pulled out his weapon. "Turbo Axe!" he shouted. The Green Ranger swung the large blade at the Grinders and they were gone in a matter of seconds. "Hey, I did it! Zig-man: 1, Grinders: Zilch!" he cheered happily.

Dillon and Tenaya still engaged in what seemed like a mirrored battle. The only thing either of them was accomplishing was slightly wearing the other down. None of their attacks were landing and this was only making them both grow more frustrated. But, the two of them were both too stubborn to back down, so they continued fighting throwing everything they had at one another.

Dillon tried to throw another punch at Tenaya's face. But she grabbed his wrist and began to twist it. Usually, this was something that Dillon would have no trouble getting out of if it was a typical Grinder or attack-bot, but given Tenaya's enhanced strength, he felt restrained by her grip. He roared in fury and tried to punch her using his other hand, but she grabbed it as well and forced his hands down away from her.

"What's the matter? Can't come up with your own moves to fight me so you steal mine?" She snapped at him right in his face.

Dillon looked at her mask that was right in his face. "You're one to talk! What are you so particular about protecting your face for? You got something you don't want anyone else to see?" he asked her.

"I can't see your face, so why should you see mine? Hypocrisy is an ugly thing Ranger Black." She hissed as she still restrained him.

"I think you're afraid to look anyone in the eyes because then you'd have to face the people you've hurt and you can't handle that, so you hide behind a mask. You're too afraid to face anyone." He told her to her face. "It's your biggest fear."

"I don't feel fear, I only cause it. And you're about to see what fear really is!" she screamed. With that, she leapt high in the air and kicked Dillon square in the chest. He took a few steps back to balance himself, but by the time he had he saw her wailing at him with punches. He tried his best to dodge it by jumping backwards and pulling out his weapon.

"Rocket Blaster!" he shouted, the large gun-like object falling into his hands. He held the blaster with both hands to steady it as he aimed it right at her. "Enough of this!" he shouted.

Tenaya just scoffed and pushed her hair behind her shoulders. "Go ahead and fire it, Venjix will only repair me again and I'll be back." She told him as she folded her arms. Dillon could tell that she wasn't fazed in the least by his weapon, and that made him nervous. His weapon was easily the strongest out of the entire ranger's next to Scotts, and she didn't even budge. "Do it." She baited him.

Dillon felt his pulse quicken. He wanted to fire the weapon at her, but something unknown to him was holding him back. For some reason he couldn't destroy her. "Just leave, Tenaya." He said to her in a low voice, as he still aimed the weapon at her.

"Time's up!" she shouted, picking up a half a pipe that lay on the ground. She swung it at him, nailing him in the chest. Dillon, along with his blaster hit the floor, he couldn't believe the power that was behind that strike, it astounded him. He always thought that Tenaya was small in size, but was unaware that she packed a wallop like that.

Tenaya quickly scooped his blaster from the ground and fired it at him. Dillon was thrown a few feet until he crashed into a wall, and then fell to the floor with a rolling stop. He demorphed as he met the ground, and a small silver object rolled out of his jacket pocket. The Black Ranger just laid there rubbing his chest from Tenaya's blow. When the other rangers saw that Dillon was on the ground and out of his ranger form, they bolted over to him as fast as they could.

"Dillon!" Summer cried running to him.

Scott grabbed his arm and helped him get to his feet. "You okay, man?"

Dillon hanged tightly onto Scott and Summer to stay standing. "Yeah, I'm fine. She just overworked me a little." He told them.

Tenaya looked down at her weakened opponent. "I'm not finished with you yet, Ranger Black!" she yelled, preparing to run at him. But the Scott, Flynn, Summer and Ziggy all ran in front of Dillon to protect him from further harm. When the rangers ran into place, it made the silver object pop open, revealing that it was none other than Dillon's pocket watch. As it opened, a soft melody filled the air. When Tenaya heard the song, in made her stop in her tracks. She looked down at the watch in confusion.

"What's that?" she asked, never breaking eye contact with the watch.

"Stay away from it!" Dillon shouted at her, pushing himself forward. "It's my watch. What do you care?"

"I…don't." She replied nervously. "I…uh, have plans to do for Venjix. Don't think you've won, this is far from over." The attack-bot told the rangers. With that, she turned and ran off, she was gone in a flash.

Ziggy stepped forward and picked the watch from the ground, then handed it to the Black Ranger. "Here you go! One pocket watch!"

Summer took a few steps forward and looked around. "Why would she just leave like that?" she asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Dillon replied as he looked at the watch in his hands. He flipped it closed—ending the music. He looked forward to where Tenaya had ran away. He noticed that something had disturbed her about the watch, but he had no idea what. The only people who even knew about the watch was himself and the other rangers. But from the way Tenaya seemed to panic, he thought she knew something about it and he was determined to know what.


	4. A Friend In Green

Tenaya barged into the doors of Venjix's lair. She retracted her mask from her face as she walked along. She stood before her master, prepared to get a lecture from him. But that wasn't what concerned her most. She kept thinking about her battle with the Black Ranger and how their moves were one and the same. How did he know every move she was going to make before she made it? It was the same with her; she knew what attacks he was going to use as if the battle was choreographed. What concerned her the most was that watch. It was like the mere presence of it and the music it played stirred something deep inside her. She knew that she had seen it somewhere before.

"What was that back there?" She thought to herself. "Where have I seen that before? And that music…"

"Tenaya!" Venjix yelled, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Tenaya jumped and looked up to the master machine. "Yes, Venjix?" she asked. "You rang?"

"You had the Black Ranger on the ropes and you retreated! Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't destroy you where you stand!" Venjix roared at her.

Truth be told, Tenaya didn't have a reason to give Venjix. She herself was appalled at her actions. She knew that she had traces of a human inside of her, but they never surfaced like they had today, and that worried her. She used to never have any problems attacking the rangers, she craved it, but something was different about her today, she didn't want to battle anyone, but she forced herself to for the sake of her life. That was the thing about human infiltration attack-bots, they'd do anything to survive, even if it was against their will. If Venjix ever found out what she was feeling, she'd be destroyed faster than she could think, and she couldn't let that happen. So, she acted as if nothing had fazed her.

"Because you need me." She informed him. "I'm not stupid, you know as well as I do that your other two _generals_—I use that word loosely—are far less competent that me. You destroy me and your chances of destroying the rangers will seriously plummet." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Competent or not, you_ will_ respect me! I gave you your powers and I can just as easily take them away." The red eye shouted at her. Tenaya just rolled her eyes and dropped her arms. "Now," the machine went on, "I have work to complete, go wait in your quarters until I need you."

"Fine." She snapped at him. She turned and left the room, the loud doors crashed closed loudly behind her. She found herself alone in the empty hallway; she leaned against the walls and began to hear the music from the watch in her ears. She remembered it from the battle so clearly; it was like it was taunting her.

"That music…" she said softly to herself. "Why do I know it?" Tenaya had so many questions she wanted answered at the moment, but she really didn't have anyone to turn to. But there was one person who could answer the questions she had whether they wanted to or not—Ranger Black. She was prepared to do whatever means necessary to get her questions answered. She thought back on their battle and how he implied that she had something to fear, and that made her begin to feel angry.

"He thinks I can't face anyone? He thinks that's my biggest fear?" she asked herself as she began to walk away. "I'll show him what fear really is." She couldn't take it anymore; she knew that she had to come up with some sort of plan to deal with the Black Ranger, no matter what it may be.

At the Garage, Dillon was up in his room pounding on his punching bag. He hit it over and over trying to get out his rage. His memories kept coming to him in flashes and always ended at the same place—with Taryn being taken away from him. He knew that Summer and the others were his friends and would do anything they could to help him, but he never felt more alone. Mainly because they all had something he didn't—a past. He kept hearing Taryn's voice calling out to him over and over again, and then him collapsing to the floor, wanting desperately to run over and save her, but his body wouldn't allow it. Blurs of her being pulled away was all he could see in that moment, and then that dreaded flash.

What bugged the Black Ranger the most was the fact that he knew Taryn's name, but had no idea who she was. All that he knew was that he failed in saving her—he had let her down. That's one of the main reasons he became a Power Ranger, he thought that if he had the chance to save others from the same fate, he'd take it. Then there were people like Tenaya out there who were no better than the creature that had taken Taryn away. All they want is power and domination, and they don't care whom they have to go through to get it. As the thoughts of Tenaya filled his head, he felt himself punch the bag harder and harder. He asked himself so many questions: why did her expression change when she saw his watch? What made her suddenly want to retreat? And most of all, what held him back from destroying her when he had the chance?

Dillon's punches came at a more rapid pace as his mind continue to wander. He heard Taryn's voice as if she were in the room. "Dillon…Dillon…" He hit the bag harder and harder trying to drown out her voice, trying to make the images and the sounds stop. He was hitting it so hard that the bag nearly fell off of its post. He eased his fury when he felt his chest begin to burn from his previous battle with Tenaya. He grabbed the punching bag to stop it from swinging and leaned his head against it. In the midst of catching his breath he heard someone knocking on his door. His door was wide open so it only stood to reason that someone heard his outburst. He turned to see Ziggy standing at the door, looking at him strangely. When Dillon saw who was at the door, he turned back to his punching bag and began to hit it slowly.

"What is it, Ziggy?" he asked in a low voice.

Ziggy entered the room cautiously as he spoke. "Uh, Doctor K wants us downstairs for some training."

"I'll be down later." The Black Ranger answered as he began to punch the bag harder.

Ziggy looked at his friend in concern as he sat down in a chair in the room. "Is everything okay?"

"Perfect." Dillon answered flatly. "Just blowing off some steam."

"Well, if everything was perfect you wouldn't have any steam to blow off." Ziggy pointed out.

Dillon abruptly stopped punching the bag and turned to him. "What do you want me to say, Ziggy?"

Ziggy was a little thrown off by his friend's annoyed tone at him, he just shook his head and looked at him. "I want you to tell me what's bothering you. I may be able to help you." He told him.

"Help me?" Dillon asked sounding somewhat shocked. "Why would you care about helping me?"

"Well," Ziggy began as he stood and started to walk around the room, "We've been through a lot together and I guess I've come to think of you as my best…" he trailed off when he saw Dillon glare at him. "…friend."

Dillon looked back to his sand bag. "You don't want to be my best friend." He told him.

"Why not?" Ziggy asked.

"Because I'll let you down!" Dillon yelled. Soon after he kicked himself for yelling at Ziggy because he knew he only meant well. The Black Ranger just sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I've gotten pretty good at that." He went on sadly.

"What're you talking about?" Ziggy asked. "Is this about losing that fight with Tenaya?"

"Not just that, it's…Taryn too." Dillon replied closing his eyes.

"Taryn?" Ziggy asked confusedly. "Who's Taryn?"

"I don't really know, she's someone I keep having memories about and all I know is that I had a chance to save her and I failed." He said as he resumed punching.

"Who all knows about this?" Ziggy asked.

"Just Summer. We got to talking the other night when I—" Dillon began, but stopped himself.

"Broke the bathroom mirror?" Ziggy finished for him.

Dillon just looked at him with a nod. "Right."

"How do you even know if you really 'failed' to save her? How do you know that she even needed saving? You say you don't know anything about her; maybe she wasn't on your side. What makes you so sure?" Ziggy asked.

"Because I loved her!" Dillon shouted punching the bag as hard as he could. A cold silence filled the room for a few moments. Dillon had never actually admitted to anyone that he loved this Taryn girl, not even to himself. He figured this person must have been someone very close to him because of how much the thought of losing her tortured him. It was an indescribable pain he felt when he saw her being taken from him, and what hurt the most that was if he did love her, how could he forget her?

"Look, I'm sorry." Ziggy said softly. "I didn't mean to pry into your personal life or anything. I'm sure that she…loved you too."

"After what I did to her, I doubt it." The Black Ranger answered, hitting the bag once more.

Ziggy walked behind the bag so he could look at him. "Dillon, I know you, and you care way too much about people to just let them get hurt. If you were anything like you are now I'm sure you did everything within your power to save her."

"I just…" Dillon began sadly.

"You just…what?" Ziggy asked.

"I just want to tell her that I'm sorry." Dillon admitted.

Ziggy could see the pain in Dillon's eyes and know that the fact that he lost Taryn haunted him. He couldn't forgive himself for what he did to her and that was why he was the way he was. He didn't brood around for the sake of appearing like a 'bad boy' or anything, it was the fact that something tormented him—followed him around like a rain cloud. That was why he didn't let anybody in; it was too painful for him to relive all of these memories that he saw from day to day. Ziggy had never stopped to think about the fact that he had something that he took for granted, something that Dillon longed for—a past. Taryn seemed to be the missing link in Dillon's past, but the fact that he didn't know if she was dead or alive made it all the more difficult. For all he knew he could have family out there that he didn't know about. It was at this moment that Ziggy saw Dillon in a different light, it wasn't so much that felt bad for him, it was that he respected him for staying strong after all he'd been through.

"If I have anything to say about it…she will." Ziggy told him.

"Thanks, Ziggy." Dillon couldn't help saying. "You're a good friend, a strange one, but a good one."

"Hey, I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to being a ranger, but when it comes to my friends I want to help however I can." Ziggy said proudly. "Now, let's head down to train, I don't want a lecture from Doc K."

"Yeah, I think I'm going to skip training. I'll deal with Doctor K later." Dillon said.

"Oh, well, that's fine. I'll tell her." Ziggy said with surprise. He thought that he had helped Dillon feel better, but he soon thought that maybe this was something he couldn't fix, at least not without the answers he needed. As Ziggy headed out of the room, Dillon called out to him.

"Ziggy." Dillon said.

The Green Ranger turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"Don't tell Summer about all of this. It's a light I don't want her to see me in." Dillon told him.

"Got it." Ziggy replied with a finger pistol. As he left the room he realized that Dillon didn't want to be seen as weak—that _that's_ the light he didn't want Summer to see him in. All of the rangers thought of Dillon as one of the strongest rangers on the team, and he guessed that Summer seeing him in a moment of weakness would change that. So he would keep his mouth shut.

After Ziggy left the room, Dillon walked over to his nightstand and opened his watch to hear the music. He just stared at it as if it held the answer to all of his problems.

"I'll do whatever it takes to find you, Taryn…I promise." He said softly to himself. With that, he flipped the watch closed and went back to punching his bag, hoping that it would clear his mind.

When Ziggy made it downstairs he saw that Scott, Flynn and Summer were in the middle of their training session. In a way, he was jealous while he watched him. He knew that his skills as a ranger were nowhere near as advanced as the others, but he was hoping that he was getting there. He hated to be known as the weakest member on the team, as cliché as it sounded he wanted to at least be stronger than the woman on the team. He would just have to hope that his training would push him to his limits so he could grow stronger.

The way the primary colored rangers fought amazed him. When Summer kicked at Scott, he intercepted it by grabbing her leg and holding it upward to hold her. When he saw that he had her trapped, he smirked at her.

"Uh-oh, looks like I got you, Yellow!" Scott taunted at her playfully. "Try and get out of _this_!"

Summer looked across to Scott holding her leg. She didn't seem the least bit phased by his actions. "Okay." She said simply. With that, she leapt in the air and spun around, kicking Scott with her free leg. Scott was sent backwards, and the next thing Summer saw was Flynn running at her with a winding punch. Summer ducked the punch and grabbed Flynn's arm, then flipped him behind her. He landed on his back with a thud.

As soon as he made it to his feet he found Scott attempting a sweep kick on him. Flynn dodged this by jumping into the air. Then the two rangers threw punches and kicks at one another to wear them down. All three of the rangers seemed to be equally matched to one another.

"Have you two gotten faster since we last sparred?" Flynn asked his teammates.

"Yes," Doctor K answered for them as she rose from her desk. "You have all improved a great deal."

Suddenly, Doctor K and the rangers noticed Ziggy alone on the steps. He looked at them nervously. He wasn't so thrilled to tell them that Dillon wasn't going to do what he was told.

"Ziggy, where's Dillon? I thought you were going to get him?" Summer asked, looking at him in confusion.

"He…uh—Dillon's not coming." Ziggy stammered.

"What?" Doctor K asked with an annoyed voice. "Ranger Series Black is required to attend all training session that I issue."

"What happened when you went up there, Ziggy?" Scott asked as he approached him.

"Listen, Dillon's in somewhat of a fragile place right now. I think it's best if we leave him alone." Ziggy told them. He hated when he saw his friend look as bad as he did. He knew Dillon was one to brood, but he seemed different today—he seemed sad, and if there was anything Ziggy could do to prevent that from worsening, he would. He knew Summer would feel the same way.

"I'm going to go talk to him." Summer said as she began to head up the stairs. Ziggy reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I…wouldn't." Ziggy informed her. "He wants some alone time, and I'd give it to him." He hated keeping Summer from him when he knew how much she cared about him, but Dillon didn't want Summer to think of him as weak, so he wanted to be alone.

"Oh…okay." Summer replied sadly, walking back to the training area.

"Well, _we_ still need to train, if Dillon wants to fall behind, that's his business. But if her drags us down on the battle-field, we'll have to have a talk with him." Scott told the Green Ranger.

"Ranger Series Black will have only this one time to skip training, if it happens again, I'll be forced to take action in removing him from the team." Doctor K told the other rangers. She never had any sympathy for anybody, especially Dillon. It was as if she didn't trust something about him, like the Venjix technology he has inside his body. Although he can't help it, she didn't seem to care, and she would take any opening she could to remove him from the team, and the others knew that.

"Hopefully it won't come to that. Let's just give him some time, I'm sure he'll come around." Flynn said to the others.

"Let's hope so." Scott said. "Now, let's get back to the core of our training." He announced to him to commence the sparring. Ziggy headed into the training area and looked over at Summer. He could tell from the sad look in her eyes that she wanted nothing more than to go up there and try to help Dillon, but he wouldn't allow that. That was the thing about Dillon, he may have super strength and speed, but when it comes to letting people in…that was his weakness.


	5. Through Different Eyes

There she was again, the girl with white eyes in white. She was looking for the one she cared about everywhere. It was all so dark around her as she struggled to see. And then she finally saw him. She turned to reach for him, feeling the warmth of his hand in hers as she touched him. He held on to her as tight as he could, she could hear him calling out her name over and over. His face was nothing more than a big blur, she knew that she loved this person, but she just didn't know who exactly it was. She wanted nothing more than to wrap herself in his arms and escape this place—wherever it was.

She didn't feel anything like herself, she felt almost as if she were being controlled by something close to her. She felt like she was frozen in a block of ice, cold and still. She looked at this man crying for her and wondered why she didn't immediately run over to him. She cared very deeply for him, she could feel it deep inside her heart, but her body wouldn't budge. She couldn't move, much less speak.

When she felt something grabbed her arm, she instantly turned to see who, or what, it was. All she could see was shining silver armor. Some sort of strange man in metal had a hold of her, and she wanted to break free of him more than anything, but she felt paralyzed in her body. She felt the strange silver creature pull her further away from the man she had a grip on. She tried to grip onto him even tighter, as did he, but the sheer force of this silver being overpowered them both.

The man called her name louder and louder, begging her not to go with this brute that held her. She could tell that the creature was growing impatient with his pleas and turned to him. He gripped the man's arm and seemed to glare at him in the eyes. When the man looked back at him, his face grew pale and he fell to the floor. Writhing there on the ground in front of her, the girl had no idea what had just happened to this man she cared about. As he fell to the floor, she felt his grip slip from hers. She noticed that he was holding something circular and silver in his other hand. When he had fallen to the ground, it rolled out of his hand and began to play faint music.

In her head she was screaming his name, wanting to run over to him and aid him, but she didn't. She followed the man in silver as he dragged her away. The grip on her now was not soft and warm like before, it was cold and frightening. Suddenly, a blinding flash filled the room. When she turned to look for her loved one she saw that he was gone. In her mind she was panicking as one question tortured her: Was he still alive?

Then, everything faded, the music, the sound of his voice, everything. Tenaya looked up from her computer monitor with tears in her eyes. She had been daydreaming while she prepared an attack on Corinth, and a sudden noise from the computer had snapped her out of it. Her eyes were wide with horror as she took a step back from the screen. She panted softly as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She sat down in the chair next to her and tried to compose herself—her mind was racing.

"What was that?" she asked herself in a shaky voice. Then a thought hit her like a ton of bricks, she remembered the music she heard in her daydream and realized that it was the same exact music as the watch Ranger Black had in the battle earlier. How did she know all of this and why was she having these odd memory flashes now? She buried her hands in her face as she thought for a moment.

"That watch in the memory was the same as the one Ranger Black carries. Why does he have it?" she asked herself softly. "Why am I having these flashes?" she had so many questions that she needed answers too, and she was still planning to get them from Ranger Black. She jumped from her chair and ran out of the base. "I have to get to Ranger Black." She told herself, throwing her prior plan out the window for a sneak attack. She couldn't wait anymore, she had to do something and now.

Meanwhile, in the main room of Venjix's headquarters, General Shifter walked away from the large creation pit with a hard sigh of relief. He wasn't aware that he could get sore from doing projects like this, but he sure was now. But in his mind, it was all worth it if it kept his master happy.

"There! That was the final piece! We're finally done with this!" General Shifter said happily.

"Very good, General Shifter. This should prove most useful in our quest to destroy the rangers." Venjix told his underling with a happy sound in is mostly monotone voice.

"Let's see our handiwork. Stand back." And with that, Venjix moved his large metal claw over to the pit to pull out their project. When he did so, General Shifter just stood there in awe; he couldn't believe the size of the thing being pulled out. When Venjix placed the creation on the ground, it shook a little due to it's hefty size. "We did it," the master computer said, "we've successfully restored the Silver Swordsman!"

This Silver Swordsman was no small being. He stood at about eight feet tall, weighing anywhere near from one to two tons in weight. The metal looking figure was completely silver with brightly rimmed edges. His head was in a dome shape with three white diamond shapes going down it. There was a small area open where you could see eyes, but right now all that was there was black. Two large shoulders jutted out from each side and pointed sharply at the ends. The torso looked to be made out of armor—not a scratch, with a large white diamond shape in the middle. The legs were proportionate to its body, with two huge metal boots on each foot. His whole body was slouched over like he was turned off. The metal creature also held a long, thick, silver blade with a fat hilt in its hand. It too was also rimmed in lighter silver. Diamonds resembling the ones on his body ran down the blade. There was no telling this large sword had done in its wake.

"He's…enormous." General Shifter said in utter shock, as he looked the behemoth over.

"It took two years to restore him for a reason General. His powers go far beyond your imagining." Venjix told the bot. "All that's left to do is activate his powers." He went on with a mysterious tone in his voice.

"And how are we going to do that?" General Shifter asked.

"This is where Tenaya 7 comes in." Venjix answered slyly. "Where is she?"

General Shifter headed over to a computer monitor to quickly locate her. He was surprised when he found out where she was. She wasn't in the base like she was supposed to be.

"She's at the Corinth Lake, sir." General Shifter told his boss.

"What?!" Venjix shouted in fury. "I didn't order her to go there! Retrieve her at once! This project can't be completed without her assistance!"

"Right away, Master Venjix." The general responded with a bow, and then left to go get his target.

It was a few hours later at the Garage, and Dillon was getting out of the shower. Since the training alone didn't seem to clear his head, he had hoped that maybe washing away his troubles was the way to go. But he still felt as lost as ever as he walked back into his room. He had on only black pants and was heading back into his room to get more clothes. He knew that Doctor K and the others had to be frustrated with him for ditching his training, but right now, he really didn't care. When he made it into his room he looked at his Morpher on the bed, then grabbed a black t-shirt next to it. After he threw it on, he heard his Morpher go off. He picked it up and held it up to his face. A woman's voice came through the feed.

"Hello, Ranger Black. It's Tenaya. I want to finish what we started earlier. If you feel up to the challenge, meet me at the lake in a half hour." She told him.

"I think I've had all of you that I can handle for one day." He snapped at her in an angry voice.

"One way or another I'm going to get my battle. Whether it's against you or the civilians is your call." She said with pleasure in her voice. She knew that this was an offer he couldn't refuse seeing as how it was his duty as a ranger to protect everyone.

Dillon let out a groan of frustration. "I'll be right there." He told her as he went for his jacket.

"Oh, and come alone. I want this to be a one on one battle." She sneered through the Morpher.

"Fine!" Dillon roared before he cut the feed himself. He quickly got finished getting dressed and bolted down the stairs, he didn't want any injuries of innocents hanging over his head. When he made it downstairs, he saw that the others were taking a breather. Scott was reading some car magazine, Flynn was making a fruit smoothie, and Summer and Ziggy were engaged in a game of pool. When Scott looked up he noticed that Dillon was in some sort of hurry, so he cut him off.

"Where're you off to, Dillon?" he asked.

"Um…for a drive." Dillon lied. He tried to move past Scott again, but he wouldn't let him.

"You know, we missed you at practice a little while ago. What was up?" the Red Ranger asked.

"I was training by myself, now I really need to go." Dillon told him with haste.

"You can't use your car, I just started changing the battery on it a little bit ago." Flynn informed him.

Dillon just rolled his eyes. "Great…" he mumbled to himself. "Scott, I need to borrow your car." He said.

"My car? You mean my _car?_ Why?" Scott asked curiously.

"Look, I just need a car and yours is the fastest one right now." Dillon said growing more impatient with every word. Summer heard the urgency in his voice and grew concerned. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it wasn't good.

"Fine." Scott said sharply as he pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them to Dillon. He looked at him strangely for a moment before he spoke again. "Is there something your not telling us?" he asked.

"I don't have time for this, Scott. Please move." Dillon said angrily, starring daggers at him. Scott just sighed and shook his head before moving, he knew that something was going on, and as team leader he needed to know what. But if Dillon was put in a compromising position because he wouldn't cooperate, he wouldn't want to be the reason something bad happened.

As soon as Scott was out of the way, Dillon ran to the car. He quickly turned the engine on and prepared to leave.

"Yo, Dillon! You dent my car, you're dead!" Scott warned him in a playful tone, although he meant every word.

"Right." Dillon answered back to him, and then the red car sped out of the Garage, leaving nothing but exhaust in it's wake.

Moments later, Summer left her pool game with Ziggy and headed over to Scott. She looked at where Dillon had just driven away with worry in her eyes.

"What was that all about?" she asked him, hoping that he'd know the answer.

"I don't know. Maybe one of us should follow him." Scott told her.

"I will." Summer volunteered. "I want to."

"Fine, just be careful. Call us if there's any sign of trouble." Scott said, the mere tone in his voice showed how serious he was. He had a gruff exterior, but he really cared deeply about each one of them.

"I always do." Summer replied. And with that, she grabbed her helmet, then hopped on her bike, and chased after Dillon. She didn't care if it was dangerous or not, it was worth it.


	6. A Familiar Confrontation

Dillon drove straight to Corinth lake as fast as he could. Scott's pride and joy had gotten him there in mere minutes. He was pleased to see when he arrived that Tenaya hadn't started to attack the city or any civilians. What was weird about the scene was that she wasn't surrounded by her usual group of Grinders—she was alone. This proved she was truly serious about this being a one on one battle. She wore her typical mask over her face, preventing him from seeing her, just as he expected.

Dillon hopped out of the car, slamming the door behind him. "Okay, I'm here, Tenaya. What do you want with me?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"I want that watch you had before. Give it to me and make this easy on yourself." She said extending her hand. She may have seemed to have a confident appearance, but deep down she was a nervous wreck. If Venjix knew she were here she'd get blasted for sure. So the quicker she could end this battle the better.

"My watch?" Dillon asked in confusion. He figured when he came here alone that she would want something like his powers or his weapons. The fact that what she wanted his watch threw him off. "Not a chance. What do you want with it anyways?" he asked her.

"That doesn't concern you. Hand it over." She said with a more stern voice.

"Make me." Dillon responded, getting into a fighting stance.

"I will." Tenaya retaliated as she darted at him. She first went for is face with a flurry of punches, which he promptly blocked like the battle before. He then tried to kick her at her face, but she ducked just before it landed and tried to hit him with a cartwheel kick. She managed to make contact with his stomach, causing him to go backwards a step. When Tenaya was on her feet again, she twirled her arms around in a frenzy trying to destroy the Black Ranger. It was all he could do to defend himself from her flailing arms; they were going at such a fast pace that even his heightened speed seemed useless. When she found the right moment, she knelt down to the ground, grabbing a handful of dry dirt and threw it in his eyes. Dillon was temporarily blinded with his eyes on fire. He tried to wipe the sand away as quickly as he could so he didn't leave an opening for her to ambush him.

With her opponent unable to see, Tenaya leapt into the air and landed on him, pinning him to the ground. She put her knee in his chest to keep him from running. Her strength was none like Dillon had experienced before. He knew that she had her decent dose of strength what being an assistant to Venjix, but this strength seemed a lot like his own—unsurpassable.

Meanwhile, Summer had finally caught up with Dillon and saw that he was engaged in an intense battle with Tenaya. As she went to intervene, something stopped her when she heard Tenaya yelling at him. The sheer emotion in her voice stunned her, she wasn't aware that she had feelings, much less such hostile ones towards Dillon.

"Stop struggling and give me the watch! I'll take it from your annihilated body if I have too!" Tenaya screamed at the Black Ranger. She retracted her mask to get a good look at him. She looked to almost have tears in her eyes.

Dillon rubbed his eyes to get the rest of the dirt out. When he looked up at her all he saw was a blurry face, he couldn't make out anything about it; all he knew was that it was Tenaya. "No! That's the only link to my past that I have! I'd rather be destroyed than hand it over to you!" he screamed back at her. The volume in his voice was mostly from the sting he still felt in his eyes.

"Well, that can be arranged." She said in a cold voice. She raised her fist in preparation to strike, but before she could make contact with the ranger she got a good look at his face and stopped cold. As she looked at Dillon's face, she saw all of her memory flashes from before rushing back to her. The face she saw before her was the same one from her daydream. _This_ was the man that was calling out the girl's name over and over again.

"Dillon?" she said slowly. The tone in her voice was completely different than it had been just seconds ago, it almost sounded kind.

Dillon looked his red eyes up to her, still unable to see anything but blurriness. "How do you know my name?" he asked her. Tenaya had never referred to him as anything but 'Ranger Black' he didn't think that she knew any of the ranger's names, much less his.

As Summer watched this, she could hear the shift in Tenaya's voice and the mentioning of Dillon's name. She was just as stunned as he was and continued to watch to see if there was any reasoning for any of this. She figured if she blew her cover now, that something critical could be missed.

"I don't…know." Tenaya said slowly as she lowered her fist. She just remained on top of him with her knee confining him as she thought some more. The memories flooded so clearly in her head. She knew that Dillon was the one who wanted to save this girl she kept seeing in her thoughts, she just didn't know why. "You wanted to save her." She told him softly.

"Save who?" Dillon asked her with confusion.

Suddenly, General Shifter landed behind the two of them from a portal. He crept behind Tenaya and grabbed her shoulder. She whipped around to see who had a hold of her. She knew she was busted when she saw it was General Shifter. He hated her enough already; he'd love nothing more than to report any of her mistakes to Venjix.

"Venjix never ordered you to leave the barricades! He sent me to retrieve you at once!" The general yelled in her ear. And without missing a beat, he pulled her off of Dillon and began to drag her away.

This reminded Dillon all too well of when he lost Taryn. The girl who held answers he needed was being pulled away from him. And what made matters worse was he couldn't see anything around him. He couldn't believe it—it was happening again.

"No!" he screamed. "Come back!" It was clear to him that Tenaya somehow knew something about his past that he didn't. And had he had his normal vision, he might have been able to stop her. When he saw that they were gone, he pounded his hand hard into the ground, so hard in fact that he had driven his hand slightly into the earth.

Summer took this as her cue to run over to him. "Dillon!" she shouted as she made it over to him. "Are you alright?" she asked.

The Black Ranger rubbed his eyes once more, finally starting to see clearly again. "Summer? How did you find me?" he asked, looking to her.

"I tracked you through the Morpher." She lied. She didn't want to admit that she had seen everything that had just went down, if he wanted to tell her about it, he would. "Are you alright?" she asked, as she looked him over.

"More or less." He answered simply. "I just want to go back to the Garage."

"Oh, okay. Let's go." She said as she helped him back to Scott's car. It hurt her that he didn't tell her the truth, but she wasn't exactly being honest with him either. She had seen this emotional scene unfold between him and Tenaya and felt she couldn't talk to him about it. But she did what she could at the moment-- she helped him get back home.


	7. Truth Discovered

General Shifter had a tight grip on Tenaya's arm and dragged her beside him. She didn't put up much of a fight because her mind was somewhere else. These memories she was seeing in her head were becoming more vivid every time she had them.

"I don't know what you were thinking running off like that. You're lucky I don't destroy you right here!" Shifter shouted in her ear.

Tenaya jerked out of his grip, feeling insulted by how he was treating her. "I'm not some dog on a leash! I can go where I want!" she yelled at him.

"Wrong!" General Shifter retaliated, getting right in her face. "You do what Venjix tells you to do, whether you want to or not!"

"What did you pull me away from that battle for anyways? I was in the middle of something important." She told him, adjusting her suit sleeves from where Shifter had messed them.

"Venjix needs you to complete this project, although I don't see why…" Shifter grumbled.

"Oh, really?" Tenaya asked, folding her arms, "I thought that it 'didn't concern me'. What changed?"

"Apparently he wanted to use you all along—he just wanted you to hold off the rangers until we finished the project." Shifter explained with a hard sigh.

"Well what are we waiting for?" she asked him, walking straight into the lair.

"Foolish girl. I wish I could end you here and now." Shifter said to himself while watching her go. He trailed behind her was she headed in. She busted through the doors leading to Venjix's quarters.

As she entered, she spotted a strange bot covered in silver armor slouched before her. She froze upon seeing this; her eyes grew wide with horror.

"Well, well. You decided to show up after all." Venjix said when he saw her. "Better late than never I suppose. If I didn't need you to complete this, you'd be destroyed by now."

Tenaya couldn't even hear a word Venjix was saying to her. She just stared at the metal man in the room. She felt like she couldn't breathe as memories began to fill her head. She saw the girl in white, and Dillon crying out her name over and over again. It was at this moment that she realized that _this_ was the creature pulling the girl away from him. The fear she felt just looking at this beast confirmed one thing for her—_she_ was the girl Dillon was crying out for. _She _was the girl dressed in white. But why was Dillon calling her Taryn?

Tenaya blinked her eyes, brining her out of her thoughts. "It was me." She said in a soft voice. She couldn't believe what was happening. "Ranger Black wanted to save me. But…why?" she asked herself.

Tenaya never remembered anything from her past, and she never really cared. All she knew was that Venjix was her master, and until now, her creator. But these images she was seeing now told her that was impossible. She had some sort of ties to Dillon and she needed to know what. Her flashbacks hadn't been kind enough to let her know what those ties were. There was one thing that truly bugged her: Why would Ranger Black want to save her? Why did he think she was worth it?

She also didn't know why she feared this sliver statue so much. She had no idea what he had done to her. The last thing she remembered was being pulled away from Dillon and not wanting to be. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Venjix screaming at her.

"Tenaya 7! Snap out of it! You're going to finish this project!" the master machine shouted at her.

Tenaya looked at Venjix with glassy eyes. She wanted nothing to do with this 'project' and especially nothing to do with the man in silver. She began to walk backwards shaking her head.

"No…no!" she cried. She tried to turn and run out of the base, but Shifter was blocking her path—she was trapped. The general grabbed her by the arm and forced her over to the large bot. "What're you doing?! Let me go!" she screamed as she struggled to break away but couldn't.

"We figured you would react this way. That is why we've kept this project secret from you. We knew that you would get emotionally invested in this due to your human feelings." Venjix explained to her as Shifter dragged her across the room.

When she and Shifter made it to the beast, Shifter grabbed her hand and began to bring it closer to the diamond on the center of the Silver Swordsman's chest. She fought to resist it but there was no stopping what was going to be done.

"You're going to share your own energies with the Silver Swordsman and revive him, then finally we'll have the rangers at our mercy!" Venjix said, breaking from his usual monotone voice and sounding almost cheerful.

When her hand made contact with the silver machine, she began to feel like her life was draining out of her. Her whole body ached all over and she felt tired—a feeling that was a first for her. As her energy flowed into the brute, she fell to her knees in weakness, but her hand remained on the swordsman until the transfusion was completed.

"You're remembering too much about your former life, Tenaya, and we have to change that." Venjix told her coldly.

After she was done doing what she had to, she crumpled to the ground, whimpering softly. She wanted to do so many things, cry, scream, run. But the stress that her body was just put through gave her extreme limitations. The silver man next to her began to shake and jerk like it was coming back to life.

She lifted her head as high as her weak body would allow looking at Venjix. "Just tell me one thing." She said weakly. "Why was the Black Ranger calling me Taryn? Why was he trying to save me?"

"Because," Venjix began slowly, "that pathetic ranger is your brother."

Tenaya suddenly began to feel herself hyperventilate. She couldn't wrap her head around that fact that a ranger was her brother. The ranger she tried hardest to destroy was a part of her. That was why he was calling out to her, he was just a brother wanting to protect his sister. She couldn't help but wonder if he knew these facts or not, would he still try to destroy her if he knew she was his sister? She never stopped and realized that he was a human with robotics just like she was. How did she get to the point of working for evil when her very own brother wanted to bring peace to the world? There was only one thing she wanted to do in this moment—find Dillon.

"I have to see him!" She cried as she gathered herself slowly off of the floor. Shifter immediately ran in front of her to block her.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." Venjix said lowly.

A sudden whirring sound came from behind her. She turned to see that the horrid Silver Swordsman had come back to life. It stood slowly to its feet and white eyes flashed from inside the mask. The first thing he did was grab Tenaya's wrist. His grip felt strangely familiar to her—it was just like the last time he was pulling her away, but this time, she resisted.

When she got a good look at the metal menace, she made the mistake of looking into his eyes. She felt her whole body tighten as she fell to the floor. She was groaning in pain as she pressed her head against the floor in an effort to resist what he was doing to her.

"I have to tell him I'm sorry." She whimpered softly to herself as a tear trickled down her cheek.

A few moments later, she stopped writhing on the floor and rose slowly. The look on her face was completely different than a few seconds ago. She looked to the tear on her cheek and swatted it away with disgust.

"How do you feel, Tenaya?" Venjix asked her mysteriously.

When Tenaya turned to look at her master, her eyes were white and emotionless. The tone in her voice was robotic and cold. "Perfect, Master Venjix." She answered. "How can I be of assistance to you?"

The Silver Swordsman had done something to her—changed her in some way. She was no longer having memories and caring feelings. She was nothing more than a robot now, with no memories of anyone or anything.


	8. One Rainy Night

It was late at night at the Garage. The moon was full and all seemed quiet except for the soft rain hitting against the roof.. Summer was down in the kitchen area placing down forks and knives on the table. A candle was lit between two plates that held what looked to be scrambled eggs and two wine glasses that barred an alcohol colored beverage. Summer had been working on this meal most of the night. She never considered herself to be a chef, seeing as how Andrews, her butler, prepared all of her cooking when she was younger. Scrambled eggs were the only thing she knew how to make, she just prayed they weren't burnt.

"Now for the final touch…" she said quietly to herself as she picked up a small remote and turned on some soft music. Deep down, the Yellow Ranger thought all of this she was doing was kind of lame, but she had one goal tonight—to try and get one of her friends to open up to her.

She looked around at everything to see if it all went together, it satisfied her enough. She felt a twinge of nervousness as she pulled out her Morpher. As she spoke into it, she tried to sound as breezy as she could.

She cleared her throat before she began. "Um, Dillon?" she said sweetly, "Can I see you downstairs for a minute?"

After a small pause she heard Dillon's voice come through the Morpher. "Sure. I'll be right there." His voice made her feel weak in the knees, and she exhaled nervously as she put her Morpher away.

Summer knew that this was her only time to be alone with Dillon. Scott and the others were all asleep due to how late it was, and Doctor K didn't open the door to her room after eleven. Seeing as how Dillon didn't sleep, she took advantage of this opportunity. She didn't really know how this night was going to end, she just wanted it to end on a good note—that maybe he'd be able to confide in her.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him descending the stairs. He looked around to see a candlelit dinner and soft music playing. The Black Ranger couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"What's all this?" he asked walking towards her.

"I thought you could use a little R&R. You've seemed pretty tightly wound lately." She told him.

Dillon ran his fingers through his hair as he thought of all the events that had happened over the last couple days. "Yeah, I've had a lot on my mind."

"I know," Summer answered, "that's why I wanted to do a little something special for you. I was hoping that you would talk to me—_really_ talk to me."

Dillon shook his head slightly and let out a soft sigh. "I can't make any promises." He admitted. He wanted to talk about his problems deep down; he just didn't think anyone would understand. And he wanted Summer to see him as a rock for her, not that she needed to be a rock for him.

"Then let's just eat." She said pulling out a chair and gesturing to the table. "I noticed you didn't even touch your dinner earlier."

"I haven't had much of an appetite." He told her, but when he looked at all she had done for this meal and began to feel better. "But suddenly I'm starving." He said with a smile.

When he smiled at her, Summer had to smile back. He didn't smile at just anyone like that; it was like it was special for her. She felt like she was floating. When he walked over to the table, he sat down and Summer did the same. He looked at the meal in front of him.

"Scrambled eggs?" he asked, looking at them.

"It was either that or more of Ziggy's cereal. I took a stab in the dark with this." She told him.

"Good call." He joked. He first went for the wine glass and downed a sip, tasting something he didn't expect. "Apple juice?" he asked holding up the glass.

"Doctor K doesn't allow alcohol in the Garage. I got as close as I could." She said taking a sip of juice herself.

"Well, it delicious." Dillon said with a loving smile. It may have only been apple juice and scrambled eggs in front of him, but knowing that Summer had made it just for him, it may as well have been steak and wine.

"Thank you." Summer answered simply.

After taking a couple bites of his eggs Dillon tried to kick off the conversation. "So…" he began slowly, "How have you been?" he knew that that sounded pretty stupid, but he was just as nervous as she was and was trying not to show it.

"Dillon, can we please skip the small talk and get to what's really bothering you?" Summer asked. She had hoped that she didn't sound mean or pushy, but that was what he needed.

"Wow, you're a straight shooter aren't you?" he asked, smiling at her. He liked the fact that she had a bit of an edge about her, and that if she sounded a little off base, it was only because she cared.

"What can I say?" Summer shrugged.

"Summer," Dillon sighed, "I'm not good at…opening up to people."

"That's why I'm here—to help you start." She said placing her hand on his. "I'd like to be close to you."

"No you don't." Dillon told her sadly as he pulled away from her.

"Why wouldn't I? I'm your friend." She said. The sadness in his voice was clear and she hated hearing it.

Dillon shifted his gaze from her to the table; he couldn't bring himself to look at her. "I can't…allow myself to get close to you." He said softly, and then he looked to her with hurt eyes, "No matter how much I want too."

"Why not? Why are you always trying to be alone when it's obvious that you hate it?" Summer asked him.

"I can't get close to anyone because I'm…afraid." Dillon told her with a firm tone.

"Of what?" Summer asked.

"That I'll let them down too!" he yelled as he pounded the table. Summer jumped a little but never took her focus off of him. "Summer," he said sighing, "I failed at protecting someone that clearly meant a lot to me. I still haven't been able to forgive myself for that, and if I let something like that ever happen to you…I just couldn't handle it." Dillon cared for Summer deeply, and if anything were to happen to her like it had with Taryn, he wouldn't be able to recover. So he figured if he kept his guard up, it would keep everyone from being hurt.

"You can't let what happened in the past haunt your future." Summer explained to him. "I know you, you'd do anything to help others from harm, even if it meant giving up your own life for them."

"What if I fail again?" The Black Ranger said.

"What if you don't?" Summer retaliated.

"It's a risk I can't take, Summer." He replied. "I don't trust myself enough."

"I can't do this!" Summer said hitting the table and rising from it, "I can't sit here and watch you put yourself down like this. You mean so much to all of us and you refuse to see that. You won't let anyone get close to you and it's clear you never will." She shouted and left from the table. She began to head outside, she didn't care that it was raining, she was too upset to notice. After sitting for a few seconds to reflect on her words, Dillon rose from the table and ran out into the rain after her.

"Summer, wait!" he called out to her. She turned around to face him and her eyes were glassy. The raindrops hit them all over and their hair was dripping wet, but Dillon could tell that there were tears in her eyes. He knew that she cared about him, but he had no idea how much until just now. Then the guard came down, and he gave in. "Maybe I can try." He told her, then after a brief pause, he pulled her into him and began kissing her. Rain fell all over them as they fell into their kiss. He ran his fingers through her wet blonde hair and she wrapped her arms around him. Dillon had finally done what he feared doing most—he allowed himself to fall in love.


	9. The Silver Swordsman Arrives

Early the next morning Scott was walking home from the grocery store carrying a few bags. It was his turn to do the shopping for the team, and he decided to get it done early so it wouldn't burden the rest of his day. As he made his way to the parking lot and pulled out his keys, he heard screams coming from a few yards away. He threw the brown bags into the car and ran to see what was going on.

Tenaya was in the middle of town firing a blaster at anything and everything that got in her path. Although she had a mask covering most of her face, Scott knew all too well who it was.

"Hey!" The Red Ranger shouted, making the attack-bot halt her fire, "Stop right there!"

Tenaya turned to him unfazed; she knew it would only be a matter of time before the rangers showed up. She still was under the strange spell that the Silver Swordsman put on her, and had no emotions or memories that she had before. Now she was only used as a weapon.

"Only one?" she asked with a scoff. "Where are the others?"

Scott immediately noticed her voice sounding more robotic and harsh than it had in prior battles. "Let's just see if you can handle me first." He said with a sly smile while he pulled out his Morpher. He slid the key into place and activated it. "RPM—Get it gear!" he called. Seconds later he was covered in his ranger armor.

"You're wasting your time, Red. You don't stand a chance against me alone." She warned him.

"We'll see about that." Scott retaliated. He then ran at her full force, pulling his weapon from his belt. "Nitro Sword!" he yelled as he aimed it for his opponent. He swung the blade mercilessly at her but she just danced each swing effortlessly. Scott's arms started to burn from the speed he was swinging, so she was able to grab his arm and pull him close to her.

"Call for your friends to help you." She ordered him. She didn't just want to destroy the Red Ranger; she wanted to destroy them all.

"I'm not through with you yet!" Scott shouted at her face. "Burst attack!" he called, blasting Tenaya off and away from him. She flew back about fifteen feet before she stopped, she managed to land on her feet much to Scott's surprise, and continued to walk back to him.

"What?" he asked himself in pure shock, "How can she even walk after a blast like that?" Scott's burst attack was his strongest asset; no one had ever been able to take it in stride like that. It had the ability to annihilate Grinders in seconds, and her not getting a scratch from it showed that she meant business.

"Ready to call on the others _now_?" she asked, getting a small grin on her face. She knew that her taking that attack had astounded him and threw him off a little.

Scott pulled out his Morpher and held it to his helmet. "As much as I hate to listen to a crazy person…" he mumbled to himself, "you may be right. Flynn, Summer, Ziggy, Dillon! I need assistance at Corinth Square ASAP!" he yelled into the device.

"Roger that!" Flynn's voice answered. "We'll be there! ETA—five minutes!"

"Just make it fast!" Scott yelled as he quickly closed his Morpher back.

"Perfect." Tenaya hissed to herself. Every piece of her plan was falling right into place. Soon, all of the rangers would be here and she could destroy them all—just as Venjix wanted.

Scott tried to buy himself some time by running at her once again, "Street Saber!" he shouted, hoarding the large blade in his hands. "Street Slash!" he called out as he went to strike her with the weapon. Tenaya grabbed the blade with he bare hands and stopped it from hitting her. She then lifted it and Scott into the air and threw them across the grass. Tenaya seemed to have more power behind her attacks than before, which made Scott hit the ground rolling with his Street Saber clattering beside him.

"Scott!" Ranger Yellow called out as she and her Blue, Green and Black teammates ran onto the scene. She and Flynn helped Scott make it to his feet as he fought to catch his breath. They were already morphed and ready for battle.

"Hey, are you alright, buddy?" Ziggy asked with a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"More or less." Scott huffed as he stood. "There's something different about Tenaya this time." He told his friends while looking to her. She adjusted her glove and awaited their next move.

"Different?" Ranger Black asked. "Different how?"

Scott just turned to look at his comrade in Black. "She's a whole lot stronger." He answered with a warning tone in his voice.

Dillon already knew that there was something strange going on with Tenaya. After their battle on the beach he actually wanted to see her, he wanted to see if she held any answers to the questions he had. And it seemed like recently, every time he engaged in a battle with Tenaya, something strange happened: Like when he couldn't fire his Rocket Blaster when they were on the roof before, and her odd reaction to the music in his watch, and most of all, how did she know his real name on the beach before? He decided he wasn't going to let her leave until he had answers.

The Black Ranger walked forward towards Tenaya. "We have things to discuss, Tenaya! Like how did you know my name before?" he asked her firmly.

Tenaya just scoffed and pushed her hair back. "I don't have the slightest clue as to what you're talking about. All I know is that I want you rangers destroyed…and I want to start with you." She said coldly as she pointed at Dillon.

"Well, good luck with that, because we'll never let that happen!" Ziggy announced proudly.

"We'll see. Catch me if you can Black Ranger." She said snidely as she bolted in the other direction. She knew that he would follow her without hesitation due to the fact that he needed something from her. She figured she would handle him first and then move on to the others.

"Where is she going?" Flynn asked loudly. "We can't catch her, we're not fast enough!"

"I am." Dillon said lowly as he ran after her, using his heightened speed to catch up with her.

"Dillon, wait!" Scott cried. "You don't know how powerful she is!" Knowing all too well, how powerful she was, Scott fell forward in weakness, Summer and Flynn catching him.

"Are you okay, mate?" Flynn asked him.

Scott just jerked away from the two of them. "I'm fine."

"Should we go after them?" Summer asked looking onward.

"We'll have to use our vehicles. Let' s move out!" Scott ordered as he and his team ran back to their cars and bikes. Flynn helped Scott get to his car by holding onto him. Just before they made it to their vehicles, a large silver figure dropped down in front of them, blocking their path. It crouched from its landing and rose slowly. When it stood, the sheer height of the beast blocked out most of the sunlight. The four rangers stopped dead in their tracks.

"Whoa!" Ziggy exclaimed fearfully, "What _is_ that thing!!"

"I don't know." Scott answered with a hint of fear in his voice as well. He and the others had seen large opponents before, but nothing like this. The massive man looked down on the rangers and didn't speak.

"L-looks like we're going to have to fight it." Flynn said shakily.

"Fight…_that_?" Ziggy answered in disbelief.

The large silver creature's head shot up and it's eyes opened wide. The eyes were a bright crimson color, staring them down just waiting for them to try and make a move.

"It's about to strike!" Summer cried as she and the others hit the deck. Seconds later, bright red beams shot from the creature's eyes. Thinking quickly, Flynn halted time and managed to pull them all out of the way of the blast. When time resumed, the ground where they were moments ago was scorched and burnt.

"Th-that was t-too clo-close…" Ziggy whimpered as he tried to compose himself.

"You're telling me." Flynn replied with a hard sigh.

"This really isn't good." Summer told them.

"We have no choice," Scott said standing, "we have to fight it!"

Scott's teammates all looked to him in utter shock. They didn't think he could be serious about them fighting something that massive when it almost destroyed them. But he _was_ serious, and the others knew that it was their duty as rangers to keep the world safe from harm, so some how, some way, they'd have to find a way to fight this silver behemoth—no matter how scared they were.


	10. Together At Last

Dillon ran as fast as he could to keep up with Tenaya. Even with his heightened speeds, she seemed to be running miles ahead of him. It was clear that she was trying to lead him away from the others, but he didn't care. He was determined to get the answers he needed, and if she destroyed him in the process, at least he would know about his life. She led him down a dark alley with brick walls on both sides of them, when she was caught at a dead end she turned to face him. Her mask was covering most of her face.

"Looks like you caught me." She said with an amused tone, raising an eyebrow.

"What's going on with you? How did you know my name before?" he asked forcefully.

"Hmm…" Tenaya answered, placing a finger to her chin. "my systems must have deleted that data because I have no idea what you're talking about." She said with a wicked grin. She loved the fact that she could toy with him like this.

Dillon balled his fists in fury. He couldn't take this anymore, so he did what he did best—he reacted. "Enough of these games!" he yelled. He grabbed one of her shoulders and forced her back into the wall behind her. She just laughed as he body made a dent in the brick, she barely felt the attack, this was all just a game to her. "Tell me what you know—now!" he shouted at her face.

"Charming me like this won't work, Ranger Black." She told him sarcastically.

Dillon roared in anger and pulled out his Rocket Blaster and aimed it at her face. He held the blaster with one hand and restrained her with the other. He was going to get what he wanted no matter what he had to do. "Tell me!!" he screamed.

"You won't do it and you know it." She said simply.

"Take off your mask." He ordered her, still holding her down.

"Only if you do first." She joked. But Ranger Black was in no mood for jokes. He forced her more against the wall. This time, she started to realize he was serious and grew slightly frightened. "You wouldn't destroy me. You don't have it in you." She told him with a small quiver in her voice. Although she was scared she tried to keep a brave front. Dillon was done with all of her games; he grabbed her mask and ripped it from her face. She immediately looked downward so he couldn't see her. Venjix had warned her a long time ago to never let Ranger Black see her face. And although she couldn't remember why, she wanted to do as she was told.

"Look at me." Dillon said in a low voice. Tenaya just held her ground and continued to look at the floor. "Please." He added, the tone in his voice was soft and surprisingly gentle. It was like she could trust him even though he held a blaster against her. So she did it, she finally looked at him eye to eye.

When Dillon saw her white eyes looking back at him, he froze. Everything suddenly came rushing back to him at once—the girl, the man in silver, everything. He knew who she was—finally, he knew who she was.

"Taryn?" he said in a stunned voice. All he could do was look at her and take it all in.

"That's Tenaya to you." She snapped back, throwing him off of her. The force of her push threw him backwards and he hit the ground. The last thing he saw coming at this moment was an attack, so it suffice to say that he was caught off guard. She tried to kick at him on the ground, but he rolled out of the way. His mind was racing, he didn't want to attack this girl that he had been looking for all this time, it was all he could do to defend himself. He gathered himself to his feet and tried to get his bearings. She was wailing on him and he had to think quickly on how he would get through to her. So he did all he could do at the moment, he held up his wrist and deactivated his Morpher, making his ranger powers leave him.

"What're you doing?" she asked in disbelief. "You realize you're putting yourself in a very vulnerable position."

"No I'm not." He replied softly. "Because I know my own sister wouldn't destroy me." He said as he slowly walked towards her.

"Sister?" she asked in an almost disgusted tone. "What makes you think I'm your sister?" Due to what the Silver Swordsman did to her, she didn't remember anything about Dillon or her past life like she had before, but that didn't mean Dillon couldn't get through to her.

"Have a look at this." He said gently as he pulled out his pocket watch and opened it. A soft melody filled the cool air, hitting Tenaya's ears.

"What's that?" she asked staring at the watch intently with wide eyes.

"A watch you gave me. You gave it to me when I was sick remember? You knew the ticking sound and the music it played always calmed me. You thought it would make me feel better." He explained as he drew closer to her. "Soon after you were taken from me."

"By who?" she asked, her voice gradually becoming softer and more humane.

"I was hoping you could tell _me_ that. The last thing I remember was a flash." He told her.

"Then you disappeared." She said hesitantly, frozen in place.

"Exactly." He said, finally making it to her. "I just can't believe you're alive." He smiled. As he went to hug her, she flipped out a blaster of her own and pressed it against his chest. He didn't budge.

"You're lying to me!" she shouted with tears in her eyes. "You're just trying to mess with my head!"

"You know me, Taryn. You know that I'm telling you the truth. I'm not going to hurt you—I swear." He assured her with a soothing voice.

"How can I be sure of that?" she asked him, her hand quivering as it held the blaster.

Dillon didn't speak, he just walker to her, her blaster digging into his chest. He didn't care; he just gently took her shoulders in his hands and looked in her eyes. "Because you're my sister…and I love you." He said softly. He took the hand that wasn't holding the blaster and placed the pocket watch in it. "Try and remember."

She just stared blankly at the watch for a few seconds, as if she were trying to sort everything out in her mind. Deep within her, she knew that she could trust what Dillon was saying. After all, she just spent the past few months attacking him and he still loves her because she's his sister. Venjix didn't know love like that—in fact, he didn't know love at all. Suddenly, it was all clear.

A few moments later she felt a powerful twinge of pain in her head, although the effects the Silver Swordsman had on her were wearing off, that didn't mean it felt good. She gripped her head hard and fell forward into Dillon's arms, closing her eyes tightly shut.

"Taryn? What wrong?" he asked her in a concerned and worried voice. She just shook her head hard a few times and finally opened her eyes, and when she did, they were not white anymore, just a soft brown color—just like his.

"Dillon?" she asked the man holding her. The tone in her voice was very soft and sweet, just as her expression was. Not a trace of evil was there anymore, she was finally good.

"Yes." Dillon answered with the biggest smile ever to cross his face. "You remember me, Taryn?" he asked her.

"I do." She answered sadly as she hung her head.

"What is it?" Dillon asked her, he figured she would be as happy as he was that she knew him again.

Taryn just looked at him with wet eyes, "I'm just so sorry." She whimpered. "I've done some terrible things to you." She told him.

"I don't' care." He said firmly to her, and just grabbed her and hugged her as tightly as he could, fearing if he let go she'd disappear again.

"I've missed you, Dillon…so much you have no idea." She admitted to him as she clung to him tightly.

"I think I do." He told her simply. He missed her so much it hurt, and now she was finally in his arms and she was okay. "I just can't believe you're alive."

"I can't believe you're alive either. The last time I saw you, you were—" She began.

"Don't think about that right now." He stopped her. "None of that matters right now, what _does_ matter is that we're together again, and I'm going to everything I can to keep you safe." He said looking at her.

"Just like before." She smiled. Dillon just nodded in response.

After a few more light moments of their embracing, Dillon heard Scott's voice yelling through his Morpher. "Black, do you read?! We're getting tossed around like rag dolls over here and need your assistance ASAP!!" you could tell from Scott's voice that he was struggling and was engaged in a very difficult battle.

"I'll be right there." Dillon answered annoyingly, he couldn't believe that this was happening now of all times. He wanted to just be with Taryn right now and talk, but he had duties as a ranger that needed to be taken care of. He turned to his sister sadly. "Taryn, I have to go, my team's in trouble."

"I'll go with you." She answered quickly. "I know I can help."

"No, I don't want to risk you getting hurt. I've already lost you once." He told her.

"Dillon, I'm infused with the same hardware as you—I can handle it." She assured him.

Dillon just let out a sigh and glanced at her, he remembered now that Taryn was always one to help if she could. "Let's go." He said, giving in. He had no idea how the others would react to Tenaya trying to help them, but he figured he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. With that, the two ran off together.


	11. Black Turns White

The Silver Swordsman balled his hefty hand into a fist and pounded it hard into the ground. As the fist made contact, the ground began to shake uncontrollably. It was like a massive earthquake was in motion. The force of the shaking ground threw the rangers high into the air, only to make them slam down against it over and over again.

"I…can't…take…much more…of this!" Ziggy cried was he was tossed about.

"We need Dillon!" Summer shouted, "Where is he?!"

"Right here!" The Black Ranger answered as he fired a powerful blast from his Rocket Blaster at the target. It managed to startle him for a second. "Taryn, now!" he called out.

Seconds later, Taryn emerged from behind a tree and fired her blaster rapidly at the monster. She held her blaster sideways to fire quicker blasts. Although the attacks didn't seem to scratch the Swordsman, it did make the earthquake cease.

"Taryn?" Summer asked herself quietly. She knew that Dillon knew her name was Tenaya, why was he calling her Taryn?

With the rangers able to get to their feet again, Taryn ran over to help them up. She first went to help Ziggy because she knew that he was the newest of the rangers and could use any extra help he could get.

"Whoa, whoa, sister! Back away from me!" he shouted at her, as he made it to his feet on his own. He held out his hands so she couldn't get near him.

"Aye!" Flynn added holding up his Turbo Cannon. "Step back unless you want to get blasted to pieces!"

"No!" Dillon screamed at the Blue Ranger, jumping in front of it. Flynn immediately lowered his weapon.

"Dillon, what're you talking about? That's Tenaya!" Summer told him.

"Our mutual enemy!" Scott intervened.

"Not anymore." He said looking to Taryn. "She's on our side now, you're just going to have to trust me on this."

"Sounds like she brainwashed you to me, mate." Flynn told him.

"What Dillon said was true. Please…trust me." Taryn asked them, stepping forward. "I want to help you fight against Venjix." The tone in her voice was that of total sincerity. It was like she was a totally new person—a person they could trust. And if Dillon said that they could trust in her, they just assumed they could too.

"As much as I don't trust this, we really don't have much a choice right now." Scott huffed. It was that he didn't believe Dillon's claims, it was just hard for him to trust Tenaya, and the fact that she had a total change in character made him cautious.

"Who is this monster anyw—" Dillon began as he turned towards the Swordsman. When he got a good look at him this time, everything that he had done came rushing back to him. Everything he had done to him, and mostly everything that he had done to Taryn. "The Silver Swordsman…" he said to himself in a state of shock.

"Silver Swordsman? You know him?" Summer asked in confusion.

"I just do." Dillon answered lowly. The mere tone in his voice showed all of the rage he held towards this beast. He turned to his sister, "Stay back. I don't want you going anywhere near this monster again, got it?"

"Again?" Scott interjected, stepping forward. It was at that moment that Scott noticed the horrified look on Taryn's face as she backed away from the beast slowly. It was clear that he had done something terrible to her and she was terrified of him. No one could fake a horrified look like hers.

Dillon turned to the Blue and Green Rangers. "Ziggy, Flynn, I want you to keep Taryn away from this guy no matter what." He informed them.

"Why not!" Flynn exclaimed in an annoyed voice. "It's been a crazy enough day already—let's help the Venjix attack-bot!"

"Enough Flynn!" Dillon screamed at him. "Just protect her!"

With that Ziggy took a gentle hold of her arm and he and Flynn escorted her behind a cluster of bushed so that she was out of harms way.

"It'll be alright, okay? Just try and be calm." Ziggy assured her. His sweet words made her smile and she nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Ranger Green." She told him.

"Call me Ziggy." He replied with a gentle pat on the shoulder. Then he and Flynn pulled out their weapons to be ready if trouble should strike.

Meanwhile, Dillon, Scott and Summer all stepped forward. Dillon activated his Morpher and held it up.

"RPM—Get in gear!" he shouted as his ranger powers took over his body. He was ready for a battle, especially against this particular bot. "Don't look him in the eyes." He warned the Yellow and Red Rangers about the Silver Swordsman.

"Why not?" Scott asked him.

"Just don't." Dillon answered simply, never taking his eyes off of the silver beast before him. Then, whether Scott and Summer were with him or not, he darted at his opponent with nothing but white fury. He knew this creature was responsible for everything he didn't know about his life and he wasn't going to stop until he was gone. "Nitro Sword!" he screamed as he began to wail on the Silver Swordsman with it. The Swordsman didn't even seem the slightest bit fazed by the Black Ranger's strikes, it was like nothing more than a feather hitting him.

Seconds later Scott and Summer ran beside him. "This isn't working!" Scott yelled to him. "We need to hit him with everything we got!"

"Let's try our weapons. It's better than nothing." Summer told the rangers.

"I'll try anything!" Dillon replied to them. Then the three rangers all surrounded the silver menace with their weapons drawn, calling their out their names as they equipped them.

"Ready for fire in three…two…one!" Scott counted down. And when the time was up the three struck with their weapons simultaneously. Their attacks hit the monster head on, but when the smoke cleared, they discovered that not even a dent made it into him. In fact, the attacks shot off of his body and ricocheted back at the rangers making them crumble to the ground.

"Nothing's working!" Summer cried as she turned to her male allies.

"We can't give up. There has to be something we can do, we just have to think." Scott told the rangers as he pulled himself off of the ground.

"I've had enough of this guy!" Dillon roared as he pulled out his Rocket Blaster and ran right at him. He was aware of the fact that his weapon would more or less do nothing, but he wasn't thinking, he was too fueled by anger.

"Dillon, stop! We need to regroup!" Scott shouted at him. "Get back here, that's an order!!"

Dillon ignored his leader's orders, he had a score to settle and he wanted to settle it now. He fired the weapon at the brute as he ran at him. The shots bounced off over and over again as he continued to fire. When he saw that his blaster did nothing, he threw it aside in a rage and just began to punch and kick at the swordsman. Not even flinching at his attacks, the Silver Swordsman raised a hand and thrusted it into Dillon's chest. The Black Ranger flew many yards threw the air until his back crashed hard into a tree. The mere force of the blast made the trunk of the tree crack and break. Dillon let out a shriek as the pain flowed into his back.

"Dillon!!" Taryn screamed. As she went to run after him, Flynn grabbed her arm.

"It's not safe, lass. Best stay here." Flynn told her in a soft voice. When he saw the look in her eyes and the pain in her voice when she saw Dillon crash, it clicked that just maybe she _was_ telling the truth, and that maybe she _was_ fighting with them now. Ziggy just stroked her arm sympathetically, hoping to make her feel better.

When Scott noticed that Dillon had been brutally attacked and could possibly be badly injured, he turned to the Yellow Ranger. "Summer, go help Dillon! I'll try my best to hold this freak off!" he called out to her. Summer was always the best when it came to aiding injuries and could probably help him if he needed it.

"What about you?" She asked worriedly.

"I'll think of something, just go!" he shouted back to her. As much as Summer loved Dillon, she cared about Scott too—he was like her older brother. She wouldn't want either of them to be hurt.

"Gotcha." She answered hesitantly, then bolted to go after Dillon. She just prayed that he was all right when she got there.

As she ran over to him, she noticed that he kept trying to stand, but in effect kept falling. She could tell immediately that he had badly injured his back due to the fact that he kept using the tree as leverage.

"Dillon, are you okay?" She asked, looking him over.

"Get Taryn out of here." He said with a pained voice, ignoring the Yellow Ranger's question.

Summer knew now was not the time to argue with him, so she did as she was asked. "Okay, I'm on it." She answered, pulling out her Morpher. "Ziggy, Flynn, get Taryn out of her immediately. Take her to the Garage."

A few seconds later Flynn's voice came over the feed. "The Garage?" he asked, he still wasn't 100% sure about what Taryn's motives were. "Isn't that risky?"

"Just do it!" Dillon screamed at the Morpher. "I swear you can trust her, just get her out of here!"

After a brief silence, Flynn's voice came on once again. "You got it, buddy. Will do. Ranger Blue out." He said. He felt bad that he even said the things he did, even in an injured state, all Dillon cared about was getting Taryn to safety—and that was all the convincing he needed.

Back in the bushes, Flynn flipped his Morpher closed and turned to Taryn. "Come on, Tenaya, let's get you to safety. We'll go back to our base." He told her.

"Well, is he alright? Is he injured?" Taryn asked quickly, trying to look over in his direction to see for herself.

"He'll be even better once you're in a safe place." Ziggy told her gently as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Taryn didn't answer, she just nodded with tear filled eyes as the Green and Blue Rangers escorted her out of the area. It still amazed Taryn that even after all she had done to him and his friends that he still cared about her safety. She now knew why she loved him so much.

A few yards away, Dillon leaned hard against the broken tree that his body had crushed, groaning painfully. It felt like his back was completely broken and burned like crazy. With every move he made he felt a terrible sting. He went to try and stand again, but screamed when he felt his back throb.

"Don't move! You've got a pretty severe back injury! Maybe you should go back to the Garage too." Summer told him while she forced him to sit by placing her hands on his shoulders.

"No. I have to destroy this guy so he can't hurt anyone else." Dillon answered. He took Summer's hands off of him and pushed himself off of the tree and onto his feet. "I have to do this." He made it a few steps before he started to fall. Summer ran and caught him so that he only hit his knees.

"Dillon, you need medical attention and fast." She told him. She hung tightly onto him so that he didn't fall further.

"Summer?" Dillon winced, looking up to her. He retracted his helmet so she could see his face.

"What?" she answered, looking back to him retracting her helmet as well.

"Promise me you'll be careful with this guy. I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you." He told her, grabbing the back of her head and petting it gently.

"It's a two way deal." She answered softly. Then he pulled her head towards his and the two kissed. He took her in his arms and hugged her for a few moments before letting go.

"Now let's go help Scott." He told her, pushing himself off of her and bringing back his helmet.

"Are you sure? You're back is shattered." She said as she stood.

"I can handle it. Now let's go." He told her and started to walk on. Summer ran next to him and pulled is arm around her shoulder so he could lean on her.

"Fine, but let me help you." She insisted as they headed back to the battle.

"What would I do without you?" He asked her.

"Be destroyed." She joked.

Dillon may not have known a lot about his past, but he never felt so lucky as to have two girls that cared for him as much as they did. He planned on doing all he could to keep them safe… no matter what.

As Summer and Dillon walked back to the dreaded battlefield, they saw Scott fly threw the air and land right in front of them, he had taken one of the Swordsman's powerful blows.

She let go of Dillon and steadied him and then ran over to help Scott up. "Scott!" she exclaimed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" The Red Ranger assured her as he stood. "I just have no idea how we hurt this freak!"

"You have to hit him in the center of the white diamond in his chest." Dillon informed them.

"I guess that sounds easy enough." Scott answered while dusting himself off.

"Don't underestimate him, Scott, trust me. You saw what he did to me when I got close to him." Dillon said, rubbing his sore back.

Suddenly, the eyes of the Silver Swordsman glowed a bright red once again, signaling that he was preparing another devastating attack. When Summer caught wind of this, she warned her friends.

"Look out!" She screamed while she pointed at the beast. But the attack was too fast for the rangers, which made them get nailed by it. When they were hit by the blast, they flew up a few feet and crashed hard on the ground. "What do we do now?" she cried.

"We keep trying!" Scott shouted in response. He pulled out his Street Saber and held it up high. He ran at the Silver Swordsman and began to swing his weapon mercilessly at him. Like the times before, these attacks did little—if nothing, to him. The menace opened his eyes once again, showing that terrible crimson color. He hit Scott head on, throwing him back to where Dillon and Summer stood.

"I'll make you pay for that!" Summer warned the man in silver. She ran as close as she could to him. It was then that the Black Ranger noticed that this time the Swordsman eyes were glowing white. He was going to do the same thing to Summer as he had to Taryn.

"Summer, stop!!" Dillon screamed. He began to run after her, his back injury making it a difficult feat. Summer hit the enemy as hard as she could with the surges she absorbed from all around her. But like their last attempts, this one proved useless.

Dillon saw that the beast was going for Summer's arm to grab her. He picked up his speed and shoved her out of the way in the last second. She rolled away to safety as the Silver Swordsman grabbed Dillon's arm in her place. He struggled to break free of beast, but the strength of this creature was all too powerful. The Swordsman looked down at the Black Ranger with his white eyes. Dillon lowered his head so he wouldn't look him in the eyes, but the creature used his free hand to force Dillon's head to face him. It was at that moment that Dillon felt his body tighten, he couldn't move, he felt as if he were paralyzed. His ranger powers left him almost instantly. His body hit the ground with a thud and he began to squirm around. This horrible feeling was filling his body like it had with Taryn earlier.

Summer ran to help Scott to his feet and noticed the Black Ranger was down. "What's happening to him?" She asked the leader.

"I wish I could tell you, Summer." Scott answered weakly. He wanted to go and help his troubled comrade, but he was too injured to move, he fell back onto his knees and onto the floor.

Summer knelt beside him, "You wait here. I'm going to help Dillon." She told him as she began to run ahead.

"Come back, Summer! Please!" Scott pleaded. He didn't want Summer to feel any part of what Dillon was at the moment. He worried that if she got to close, she'd be destroyed.

Summer ignored her leaders orders and ran over to Dillon writhing on the ground. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" she asked grabbing onto him.

"I can't stop it." Dillon groaned, pressing his head against the ground.

"Stop what?" Summer asked him. Suddenly, Dillon stopped moving. He sat up with his back to the Yellow Ranger. She remained on the ground as Dillon turned to her. When he opened his eyes, they were a bright white—he looked nothing like himself. "Dillon…" Summer began slowly, "What _is_ this?"

He didn't say a word; he just raised his hand across his chest and a small orb of energy formed within it. Without changing expression, Dillon fired the surge at Summer, sending her flying back to Scott. The Red Ranger immediately helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright, Summer?" he asked hanging onto her.

"Ye-yeah." She stammered. She stood and leaned against the Red Ranger. "What happened to him?" she asked. Scott didn't answer, he was too stunned at what was happening around them.

Up ahead, they saw Dillon equip his Rocket Blaster and walk towards them. As he grew closer he aimed the large gun at the rangers. It was obvious that Dillon wasn't in his right mind; he would never aim his blaster at his friends—least of all Summer.

Scott turned to Summer with a serious look on his face. "Summer, we have to retreat _now_!" he said firmly.

"What?!" she exclaimed. "But what about—"

"I don't know!" Scott cut her off. "All I know is that if we don't retreat right now, we're done!" The Red Ranger knew that if they were hit by the Black Ranger's rocket blast in their already weakened state that they would be destroyed. He didn't know what they were going to do once they retreated, but he knew they needed too.

Summer glanced at the Black Ranger gaining on them. His beautiful brown eyes were completely wiped away by whiteness. There was no trace of the ranger she loved on his face. She knew that he couldn't control it—that it was the work of this terrible swordsman, but unfortunately that wouldn't keep him from destroying them. Right now, the only thing she could do was follow Scott's orders.

"Alright." She answered softly. Then she felt Scott grab her arm and pulled her away with him, he wanted to get her out of there as fast as he could. That was the reason Scott was team leader, he always knew when they needed to fight or retreat. As the two ran away, Dillon fired a blast at them that barely missed. A tree took the blast and fell over onto the ground. When Dillon realized they were gone, he turned back to his silver partner, and the two retreated themselves.


	12. Taryn's Story

That night at the Garage everyone sat around a large circular wooden table—Scott, Flynn, Summer, Ziggy, Doctor K, and Taryn. Everyone sat there quietly with their eyes on Taryn, except for Summer who was looking down at the table teary-eyed. She had no idea what happened to Dillon or if he'd be alright. She hated every part of this—Dillon was gone and one of her worst enemies was sitting right in front of her. When Scott looked over to her and saw her glassy eyes, he rubbed her shoulder in support. He knew that she cared for Dillon and him being away wasn't an easy thing for her to deal with.

Taryn stared at the table as well. The look on her face was that of pure shame. She could feel the stares of the others burning on her. What she had done to them over the past months was not an easy thing to forgive and she really didn't expect them too, at least not right away.

She had a completely different appearance from the past times the rangers had saw her. She wore a short-sleeved maroon dress with a sweetheart neckline and small black kitten-heeled shoes. Her hair was long and brown, parted on the side. Ziggy thought she looked at lot like she did when she went undercover to steal the green Morpher from him—really beautiful.

Doctor K had a look of disapproval on her face. She didn't want Taryn to be in the base to begin with, but the rangers had explained that this was something Dillon really needed, and although she really didn't care for Ranger Black, she knew that this was something that needed to be done. But that didn't mean she couldn't interrogate her first.

"You can start any time, Tenaya." She said in an annoyed and cold voice.

"Please," Taryn began looking at the others sadly, "call me Taryn."

"Okay, 'Taryn'," Scott said making finger quotes, "do you mind telling us why you're sitting here right now, and Dillon's off doing work for Venjix?"

"I didn't think this would happen. Dillon and I were in the middle of a battle when everything clicked." She told them. "I remembered that he was my close to me and that we were separated two years ago. It was then that he got a call from you guys saying that you needed help. He knew that he had to go help you and I insisted that I come. I had no idea that the being you were fighting was the Silver Swordsman—or at least I didn't remember."

"What I don't get is why Dillon was fine one minute, then attacked us the next. Did you plan for the Silver Swordsman to brainwash him somehow?" Scott asked her.

"Of course not!" Taryn snapped. "He's my brother!"

When she spoke these words a silence fell over the table. They knew that Dillon failed to save someone years ago, but they had no clue it was his sister, much less that his sister would be Tenaya.

"Brother?" Ziggy asked with a dropped jaw. "Hold on, Dillon is your _brother_?"

Taryn looked to all of them with the most sincere look she could muster. "Yes." She told them.

Upon hearing this, Summer couldn't help but feel a little happier. Taryn wasn't his wife or girlfriend, so she could be with him without guilt. She just hated that he was gone when she got this news. Yes, it was true she could be with Dillon, but he wasn't Dillon right now, he was nothing more than a servant to Venjix.

"Wait, wait!" Flynn shouted waving his hands. "If Dillon is in fact your 'brother', then why have you been attacking us all this time?"

"I just found out…or remembered a short while ago. Venjix had me completely brainwashed, much like my brother is now. I couldn't remember a thing about my past." Taryn said looking back down at the table.

"Alright, Taryn," Scott said with a sigh, "start at the beginning. Tell us all you remembered and try not to leave anything out."

"Okay." Taryn answered. "It all started around two years ago, right around when the Venjix Virus hit, my parents were scientist trying to work on a solution on how to relieve the virus, while Dillon and myself were trained to keep the city safe. One day, we got a call that led us to the park, telling us that Grinders were attacking innocents in the park and that we should head there immediately to keep the children safe and evacuate them. Well, Dillon and me went there as fast as we could. We loaded children into safety buses and tried to ward off the Grinders long enough to do so. Just when he had almost all the children to safety, _he_ appeared." She explained, looking up to them.

"'He?'" Ziggy asked.

"The Silver Swordsman." She continued. "He was blasting at everyone and everything, so we did all we could to get all of the kids away from him. Just when we thought we had gotten them all to safety, Dillon spotted a little girl with a teddy bear across the way. She was crying so hard. She couldn't find her parents and was wandering around to try and find them. She was right in the crosshairs of the Silver Swordsman's next blast. She must've been frozen in shock because she wasn't moving, only looking at the creature and crying. Then the swordsman fired right at her and Dillon threw himself in front of it, taking the blast. Smoke was everywhere. I called out his name to see if he was okay, but I didn't get a response. When the smoke finally cleared, I saw the girl being carried away by her mother, but still no signs of Dillon. I had no idea if he was alive or dead. When I ran over to see if he were still alive, the swordsman fired another blast, this time at me. It nailed me in the back and I fell hard on the ground. As everything started to go black, all I could remember was screaming Dillon's name over and over again, praying for a response. That's where Venjix comes in." she told them.

"He captured you?" Scott asked with a more gentle tone. He didn't know if this story were true or not, but he knew if it were, that Taryn wasn't as bad as he thought.

"Exactly. Dillon and I awoke in a strange hospital. We figured soldiers had come by to rescue us, but those soldiers turned out to be Grinders. See, Venjix wanted us for two reason, one, to use as bait against our parents so they'd stop making cures for the Venjix Virus, and two, for our advanced fighting skills." Taryn told them.

"Advanced?" Scott asked her.

"My father was a former Navy Seal, he knew all the right ways of protecting yourself, and before he decided to pursue science, he taught us everything he knew." Taryn went on.

"So what happened at the hospital?" Ziggy asked, getting very into her story.

"It wasn't a hospital at all, more like a repair shop for Venjix's attack-bots. Because he knew of our strength, he wanted us to work for him, that's why he had the Grinders take us. Although our injuries were very severe, he knew that with his special technology, that he could repair us." Taryn said, she winced as she rethought of these painful memories. This wasn't easy for her to dig into, especially without her brother around to help her.

"You said that you had 'severe injuries'. What kind of injuries?" Doctor K asked in a snide tone, she was the only one out of all of them so far that didn't seem completely convinced by Taryn's words.

"We had shattered bones, punctured lungs, heart complications—everything. We also lost a lot of blood, so much blood in fact that no mere transfusion could heal us. Venjix had to repair all of that, he replaced everything humane about us that was destroyed with robotics—_his_ robotics. If he hadn't, we'd be dead. So we went from human, to robots with human traits. He used his strongest generation of robotics on us—Generation 7." Taryn explained. Her voice was becoming softer and more afraid. When Ziggy saw this, he grabbed an empty glass from the table and poured some water from a nearby pitcher in it. He handed her the glass and she smiled softly. "Thank you." She said as she took a sip.

"So _that's_ why when we first met Dillon he had Venjix Generation 7 technology in him, and why his readings on the monitors of humans came up as half, he _is_ a human, just a human that had to be filled with robotics to survive." Flynn surmised.

"Yeah, but Dillon always went on about how he 'failed' to save someone…sounds like he did to me." Ziggy stated.

"Right." Scott interjected. "And he's always staring at that pocket watch." He turned to Taryn. "Do you know anything about that?" he asked.

"I can explain all of that." Taryn assured them. "_I _gave Dillon the pocket watch. It was while we were recovering from getting our robotic enhancements."

_(Flashback)_

"_Dillon was having a really bad reaction to the parts Venjix had put in him." Taryn told the rangers. "I didn't think he was going to survive."_

Dillon and Taryn were in a small room that resembled a prison cell. They both were lying in two beds next to one another with I.V. like objects in their arms. These I.V.s were different that the average ones, they sent electrical surges into their bodies to make them stronger. Taryn was sleeping softly in her bed, but Dillon was shivering and shaking in his.

"_I seemed to accept the technology just fine, but it was as if Dillon's body was rejecting it. I woke up to find him shivering in his bed. He was breathing very quickly and sweating all over. As soon as I saw him, I yanked the I.V. from my arm and ran to him." Taryn explained further._

"Dillon? Dillon, are you okay?" Taryn asked him as she brushed his hair back. When she pulled back her hand it was doused with his sweat, and when he opened his eyes to see her, he had purple bags underneath them. His head was burning hot indicating that he had a very high fever.

"T-Taryn?" he asked her with shaky breaths.

"I'm right here. It's alright. Just focus on me alright?" she said softly to him as she stroked his head.

"Where a-are we? What happened to us?" he asked her, glancing around the room.

"We were trying to save some children is the last I remember. Next thing I knew we were waking up here." She told him. "Apparently we were in a bad explosion and Venjix brought us here to fix us."

"Are y-you hurt?" he asked her as he gripped onto his blankets.

"No. I'm just fine." She answered taking her hand and pulling out a small silver pocket watch. She flipped it open and the music filled the room. "Listen to this. Try to relax. I'm right here."

Dillon took the watch in one of his hands and looked up to her. "Did we save the chi-children?" he asked.

"Yes. Because of you." She told him. "Don't speak anymore, save your strength. You'll need it for when we get out of here." She said. Truthfully, she had no idea if they were going to get out of there or not, but Dillon seemed to be fading away from here and she reached for anything she could to keep him going. "Just don't close your eyes, okay?" she asked of him.

"Taryn?" he said weakly.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"Please stay with me." He said looking at her.

"I'm not going anywhere." She told him, stroking his head once more. She had never seen Dillon in this shape before, he was so weak and seemed frightened. With her being the younger of the two of them he was usually the one to protect her, but now the tables were turned, and she was going to do all she could to put him at ease.

"_I had no idea if Dillon was going to live through that night or not, but he did. And over the next day or two he seemed to be getting better. He never let that watch out of his sight, he listened to it constantly—it may have saved his life." Taryn explained._

_(End Flashback)_

"Wow." Scott said. "You and Dillon really had a tough time, huh?" Taryn just closed her eyes and nodded her head.

"But how did he fail to save anyone? And who was it?" Flynn asked.

"Me." Taryn answered with her eyes still closed. "See, Venjix had plans on turning the two of us to his side—evil. I just had no idea that he'd take it to the extent that he did."

"Extent being…?" Scott asked her.

"I remember that one night in particular, Dillon was sleeping soundly in his bed and I was awake watching him to make sure his fever didn't return. He had been getting better over the past couple days, but he was still struggling with everything and I wanted to be there in case he had another bad reaction. Next thing I heard was something opening up our cell doors. Dillon jumped awake and I rose from the bed. And there he was, the Silver Swordsman." Taryn's voice became faster and more frightened. She shut her eyes tightly closed as she relived everything. "He was coming right for me. Dillon ran to try and stop him, but he was still severely injured and could barely stand. Next thing I felt was the Swordsman grabbing my hand. I made the mistake of looking into his white eyes, and it was then that I felt me losing control of myself. I couldn't speak or move, all I could do was follow the Silver Swordsman when he pulled me along. He was taking me to Venjix." She said. "I remember him leaving Dillon behind, he reached out and grabbed my hand and begged me to stay with him, but I couldn't react—all I could do was whatever that creature wanted. I could tell he was growing impatient with Dillon, so he grabbed him and stared him in the eyes, but he reacted differently than I did, he must have used a different attack on him than he did on me, because all of a sudden Dillon was crying out and writhing on the floor. I wanted to go to him—to say his name, but I just couldn't." she explained, wiping a tear from her cheek.

Ziggy placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to make this moment a little less painful for her, "Hey…it's alright." He said gently.

"You said that the Silver Swordsman left Dillon behind, do you know why?" Scott asked her.

"I've always assumed it was because of his horrible reaction to the hardware. I don't know why it didn't affect me, it just didn't. And I guess he thought of Dillon as useless. Because the next thing I saw was a bright flash. It was so white that it hurt my eyes. The next thing I knew…Dillon was gone. I had no idea where he was, or if he was still alive." She told them.

"What did Venjix do when the Swordsman only came back with you?" Flynn asked her.

"He wasn't happy about it. He destroyed the Silver Swordsman for losing such reliable asset. Then he made some more modifications to me, and I'd been working for him ever since." She said.

"Modifications. Like erasing your memory." Ziggy said sympathetically. He had no idea that Taryn and Dillon had been through all of this, he had new respect for the both of them.

"If Venjix erased your memory, that explains why you didn't remember your past, but if Dillon was gone after the flash, Venjix obviously didn't erase his. So why couldn't he remember anything either?" Scott interjected.

"It was later that I found out that the flash the Silver Swordsman generates can cause memory loss. He just wiped Dillon's mind clean." Taryn told them.

"Hold on," Scott said suddenly, "you mentioned earlier that the Silver Swordsman had white eyes, Summer," he went on, turning to her, "when you saw Dillon last didn't you say he had white eyes too?"

Summer didn't answer vocally she just nodded her sadly. She closed her eyes and shook her head at remembering this. She hated that the Dillon she knew and loved was gone, all that remained was a evil shell that wanted nothing more than to destroy.

"If you look the Silver Swordsman in the eyes and he uses the proper attack, you will be under his control completely and it's very difficult—near impossible to break from." Taryn informed them.

"How come you 'suddenly' remembered all of this?" Doctor K asked with a hint of snide in her voice.

"It first hit me when I heard the music coming from Dillon's pocket watch." She said. "Then, in time, everything just kept coming back in pieces." Taryn looked at the expressions on the ranger's and Doc K's faces. It was clear that they still weren't sure what to do about her or whether to believe her story or not. "Look, I know you have no reason to suddenly trust me, but I promise you that I'm being sincere." She looked at them for any sign of approval.

Summer finally broke her silence after a moment. "She's telling the truth." She told them. Scott and the others all turned to her in surprise.

"How can you be so sure?" Flynn asked her.

"Because Dillon told me about her one night. Her story fits." She said lowly. "He said that he missed her and…" she began, looking over to Taryn, "that he loves her."

Scott let out a hard sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's hard for me to believe any of this."

"I know, Scott, but I'm telling you that you can trust her. She really is on our side now." Summer assured him.

"Thank you, Summer." Taryn said softly with a small smile.

"Okay, Taryn," Scott said hitting the table lightly, "We trust you, jus don't do anything to make us regret it. Okay?" he warned her.

"I won't. I promise." She replied. She felt a wave of relief flow over her, she was so happy that she finally had people in her life again, good people that want to help the world, not rule it. She couldn't believe how sweet their hearts were, to take her in after all she had done. Venjix was never kind to her, she wondered why she ever bothered with him in the first place.

"Okay," Flynn began, "Now that we got _that_ figured out, what are we going to do about Dillon? That silver brute still has full control over him."

"All that we can do is try to remind my brother who his friends are." Taryn told them. "That may be enough to make him come around." She said. She paused for a moment and looked at her new friends she had made. "I know it worked for me. I'm sure my brother will find a way through this." She said.

"He will." Summer said, staring at the table, and then to the others, "He has to."


	13. Put to the Test

At the Venjix barricades, Dillon and the Silver Swordsman busted roughly through the doors leading into the master machine. Generals Crunch and Shifter both jumped when they saw who was next to the Silver Swordsman. Here they were expecting Tenaya to be with him, and it was one of the rangers.

"Ranger Black? What're _you_ doing here?!" Crunch exclaimed.

"Are we being infiltrated?" Shifter asked as he got into a fighting stance.

The large machine turned to the Black Ranger and aimed something right for him, a small red dot appeared on Dillon's chest ready to fire at any given moment.

"State your reasons for being here Ranger Black." Venjix said loudly, keeping a steady aim on Dillon. "Or I shall blast you where you stand!"

"I'm here to help you." Dillon answered in a cold voice. He began to pace around the room, the small dot clinging to him with every step. "I want the rangers destroyed."

"It's a trick!" Crunch interjected. "He's trying to pull the wool over our eyes!" he began to run over to the Black Ranger when Shifter held out his arm to stop him.

"Hold on!" Shifter stated, holding back the other general. "Take a look at his eyes, they're white."

"That must mean that the Silver Swordsman has him under his control." Crunch said lowly.

Upon hearing Crunch's words, Dillon turned to the two generals with a smirk on his face. "Boy, you catch on quick."

"Are you really here to help us, ranger?" Venjix asked him.

"I'm all yours." Dillon answered spreading out his arms.

Venjix then removed the red dot from Dillon and turned to the side. "Then you won't mind if we…test you. Just to make sure." He said slyly.

"Lay it on me." Dillon answered. Suddenly, close to twenty Grinders surrounded him on all sides. They all twitched around him moving their arms rhythmically up and down. "This is going to be fun." Dillon chuckled as he observed them.

He looked at all of the Grinders in amusement. He was almost insulted that Venjix would think that these pathetic bots would hold him back. He couldn't believe that _this_ was his test. But the battle commenced, first a few Grinders approached him throwing a series of punches his way. With one arm, Dillon blocked every blow. Next he grabbed one of the Grinder's arms and pulled it behind him, afterwards, he lifted it from the ground and threw him into a group of other Grinders.

Next, a pair of Grinders appeared on either side of Dillon. He simply leapt in the air and kicked the both of them square in the chest. They staggered backwards and were simply defeated. Then, a group of around six Grinders enclosed all around him, the Black Ranger leapt in the air kicking three times with two Grinders taking each hit. With only around ten Grinders left, Dillon saw two more approaching him, he attempted to take them out with a sweep kick, he nailed one with it. When he did a back flip to get to the other one, he felt a horrible, sharp twinge in his back and fell face down on the floor. Hit pounded the floor in fury.

"Is there a problem, Black Ranger?" Venjix asked with a snide tone.

Dillon wasn't about to admit the fact that the Silver Swordsman had badly injured his back earlier. As far as he was concerned, next to Venjix, the Silver Swordsman _was_ his master. And if her squealed on him now, there was no telling what he'd do to him. So he had no choice, he put the pain aside and tried to improvise.

"Only for the Grinders!" Dillon retaliated, hitting the button on his Morpher, throwing him into his ranger form. From the floor he looked at the remaining Grinders. "Rocket Blaster!" he called, holding the large weapon securely in his hands. Then he fired the blaster mercilessly at his targets, taking every single one of them out. "Told ya." Dillon boasted as he pushed himself from the floor.

"I must admit that I'm impressed with your stamina Black Ranger." Venjix told him. "You've passed my test and will take the place of Tenaya. Is that clear?"

Upon hearing Tenaya's name, Dillon felt himself freeze. Just hearing her name stirred something deep within him. "Tenaya?" Dillon asked softly to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to think. He saw what looked to be him screaming for someone, but before he could make out anything, it all faded into white smoke.

"Ugh, see!" General Shifter whined. "He's weak! He can't be of any help to us!"

Dillon growled lowly and quickly turned to the general, grabbing him by the throat. "Wanna run that by me again?" he sneered.

"F-fine! I'm sorry! Just let me go you crazy ranger!" Shifter pleaded. With that, Dillon pushed Shifter away from him. He placed his left hand against his head and shut his eyes. He shook his head, trying to shake away anything about his past. He was completely different than before, whereas Dillon the ranger wanted to help people and uncover his lost past, this person wanted nothing to do with it. So he shook the memories away.

"Back to business!" Venjix announced. "Do you understand your place here, Black Ranger?" he asked him.

"Yes, Venjix." Dillon replied. "The Silver Swordsman and I will handle those pathetic rangers."

"And what about Tenaya?" the master machine asked.

Dillon just let out a wicked chuckle and looked up to his master. "Tenaya who?"

The next morning at the Garage, Taryn and the rangers all awaited their call of duty. They knew that there was nothing they could do until Dillon and the Silver Swordsman showed themselves, so until then they had to find some way to keep busy. Scott, Flynn and Ziggy were all playing a round of pool while Taryn was fiddling around with a notebook of some kind alone at the table. Summer was upstairs asleep in her room. She hadn't been herself since all of the happenings with Dillon, and the rangers thought that some rest might do her good, so they left her alone.

Scott leaned down at eye level with the table to line up his next shot. "Seven-ball—corner pocket." He announced. He missed the shot by a mile and the cue ball fell into one of the pockets.

"And that there's a scratch my friend." Ziggy sighed, patting the Red Ranger on the shoulder.

"Aye, you do seem to be a little of your game today." Flynn chimed in as he added chalk to his pool stick.

"Can you blame me?" Scott said, turning his eyes to Taryn.

Ziggy found himself just staring at her. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was. He was so used to fighting against her that he never got a good look at her face. He liked the gentler side of her--he found it very attractive.

"I know." Flynn said lowly as he prepared his shot. "It's hard to get used to." He said. When he shot his turn, he made the seven-ball fall into one of the corner pockets.

"Well, shouldn't someone go talk to her?" Ziggy asked them. He felt bad for Taryn deep down. Here she was among all new people that didn't seem to trust her and her brother was gone to boot. "I mean she's all alone and I'm sure this is weird for her too."

"Then go talk to her." Scott insisted. "Just be careful."

"She doesn't bite, Scott." Ziggy told him, laying his pool stick on the table and heading over to Taryn. He took a seat right next to her.

"Hey," he said softly. "this seat taken?"

"No, please." She insisted, gesturing towards the seat.

Ziggy could tell that she was still uncomfortable with everything, so he tried to make her feel at ease. "What're you up to?" he asked her, looking down at her book.

"Just sketching." She answered meekly, closing the book quickly.

"Really?" Ziggy asked with intrigue. "What're you sketching?"

"Just random things I've seen over the past couple years: Grinders, Venjix…the Silver Swordsman." She told him. She handed him the book so he could see her work.

Ziggy peered down at the book and saw many pictures of what Taryn had described. He saw that she had drawn Grinders in different stances, Venjix's red eye and the Silver Swordsman in all of his hefty glory. When he turned the page he saw different sketches of Ranger Black in uniform.

"There are a lot of pictures of Dillon in here. They look like they were drawn months ago." Ziggy stated.

"I know. It seemed that every time we battled I had to draw pictures of him. I felt like I knew him somehow—like we were connected. Turns out…we were." She admitted to the Green Ranger.

"Well, these are all very good." He told her as he continued to look at her drawings.

"It killed time until Venjix needed me." Taryn told him.

"Oh, that's right…Venjix." Ziggy said slowly as he closed the book. He had actually forgotten in these past few moments that she even used to work for Venjix. She seemed so kind and gentle now; he couldn't believe that she was ever involved in evil doings.

"You don't have to talk to me Ranger Green." She told him sadly while looking back down at the table. "I realize that I've done a lot of bad things in my time…" she trailed off as she looked to Ziggy sadly, "…especially to you."

"Well, those days are over now." Ziggy said placing his arm around her. "You're sister of my best friend. And besides…everyone deserves a second chance."

Taryn couldn't help but smile at his sweetness. "Thank you, Ranger Green."

"Please," he told her, "call me Ziggy."

"Okay. Thank you…Ziggy." Taryn smiled. It felt strange to call him by his actual name—but she liked it.

"For what?" he asked her.

"Talking to me. I know the others haven't quite come around to me yet." She said.

"They will eventually." He assured her. "If there's anything my friends are…it's forgiving." Taryn nodded and felt herself smiling again. She couldn't remember the last time she smiled so much, especially given the circumstances. It felt good to feel that someone cared about her.

Ziggy let out a contented sighed and leaned against his hand on the table. "You know, you're kind of sweet when you're not kicking my can." He laughed. Taryn just answered with an uneasy smile and uncomfortable nod. Ziggy immediately kicked himself for being so insensitive, he didn't mean it, he was never good in sensitive situations. "Sorry." He told her.

"It's alright." She assured him as she began to stroke his arm. "I know you meant well." She said softly, gazing into his eyes. When she realized what she was doing, she instantly jerked away.

"Hey, Ziggy!" Scott called out to him. "It's your shot!"

Ziggy turned to them with a hint of annoyance then looked back to Taryn. "You're a good person, Taryn." he said rising from the table, placing his hand back on her shoulder. "Just keep telling yourself that."

"I will." She answered with a sweet smile and she watched Ziggy head back to his pool game. With that, she opened up her sketchbook again and pulled out a green pencil.


	14. Summer's Heart

While the Taryn and the guys were all downstairs, Summer was upstairs lying in her bed. She lied there awake feeling restless. She hugged a black pillow close to her chest as she stared at the ceiling. The look that Dillon had given her with those white eyes had shaken her to her very core. It was strange, when she looked at him, she saw no trace of the ranger she had fallen for, only a spawn for Venjix. She knew that Dillon couldn't have been in his right mind at the time, because he would never blatantly attack her like that. As she thought it over, she felt that this was all her fault, Dillon had taken the attack that was meant for her—he was taken in her place. Another thing that crossed her mind was how long Dillon took to attack her and Scott. If he wanted to, he could have blasted them right when he saw them, but he had waited until the two of them were gone. So this proved Dillon must have some goodness deep inside him somewhere.

Summer sighed as she tuned to her side, still clinging the pillow tightly. When she looked at her nightstand, she saw a picture of her and Dillon at a carnival. She and the rangers had all gone to the Corinth Carnival a few months back as a reward for all they had done for the city. The picture showed just her and Dillon shoving cotton candy into one another's faces. Reason being, was that he had told Summer that he had never had it before, or at least he couldn't remember what it tasted like. So she insisted that he have some, and he declined. But she was never one to back down so easily, so she decided to force him to have some by shoving it in his face. He retaliated by doing the same to her, and the two shared a long laugh with one another. They laughed even harder when they realized that, while they were acting so silly, Flynn snapped a photo of them. Afterwards, she decided to frame it and kept it on her night table ever since.

She always looked at that picture whenever she felt down—it seemed to soothe her. The look the two had in their eyes as they looked at one another really showed how much they had fallen for one another, they just hadn't acted on it until recently. Dillon was always afraid to allow himself to get close to anyone, and when he gave into Summer that rainy night, it made her feel important, she had finally gotten through to him. He had finally taken his shields down just for her. When she thought back to that kiss they shared right there in the rain, it made her feel weak in the knees. It was all still so vivid to her, his touch, the way the rain smelled, everything. She just couldn't believe that in so little time she went from being on top of the world, to the bottom of it.

She thought about everything that could happen. She wondered if she would ever get the Dillon she knew and loved back, or if this shell of him was here to stay. She could only imagine how Taryn felt, she was obviously not well liked by the others, and she had just lost her brother to boot. She wanted to go downstairs and comfort her, but she was in no state to do so. Summer couldn't help but like Taryn, she reminded her a little of herself, somewhat of an outcast that's trying to change who they were into someone good. And it also helped that she was Dillon's sister and not his girlfriend or anything. She knew that Dillon loved her even when he wasn't sure who she was. And that fact that Dillon forgave her so quickly for all she had done, only made Summer love him that much more. She only hoped that Dillon loved her that much, or hoped that he could someday.

Eventually, Summer had to stop thinking about everything—it was becoming too painful. She just grabbed her pillow even tighter and closed her eyes. She figured that as long as she was asleep, she couldn't think. Maybe she could see the real Dillon in her dreams. Just as her eyes closed, she heard her Morpher go off. She let out a harsh sigh and grabbed it from her pocket.

Scott's voice came through the device. "Summer, are you awake?" he asked with haste in his voice.

"Yeah," she answered, running her fingers through her hair, "what's the matter?"

"Dillon and that silver thing are attacking the city again, and we're all getting ready to move out." Scott told her.

"What are we going to do with Taryn?" Summer asked the Red Ranger.

"She insisted that she come with us. She says that she may be able to help get through to Dillon." Scott said.

Summer felt a small amount of relief when she heard this; she thought any extra muscle they could get to save Dillon would help. "I'll be right there." She told him.

"Roger, meet us at the meadow at the outskirts of town." Scott informed her.

"The meadow?" Summer asked with surprise. "What would they want there?"

"Apparently they want to open the dome so it can't be repaired. They started on it last night." Scott explained.

"Why didn't we get an alert?" Summer asked.

"Because Dillon broke our alert feeds. The only reason we're seeing them now is because Doctor K spotted them on the monitors." Scott told her.

"Okay. I'll be right there." She said.

"Got it. Red out." Scott said, cutting his communications with Summer.

Summer just sighed again and sprang from her bed. As she began to leave the room, the picture of her and Dillon caught her attention again. She paused and picked it up to get a closer look at it. She looked at Dillon's smiling face in the picture and ran her fingers over it, just wanting to touch him again. A few seconds later, she put back the picture and ran to where she was needed.

Down at the meadow, Dillon, the Silver Swordsman, and a pack of Grinders were all aiming their attacks to a big gap in the Corinth dome, trying to open it further. The Silver Swordsman aimed his red eye beams for the crack, Dillon blasted it with his Rocket Blaster, and the Grinders fired their own blasters at their target. Dillon was in his ranger form, thus strengthening his blaster's powers.

"Once the opening to the dome is big enough, it'll be beyond repair and this city will be in Venjix's grasp!" Dillon yelled crazily as he fired recklessly.

A familiar voice called from behind them. "Hey, Crazy Eyes!" Scott beckoned.

"You've got to be kidding." Dillon mumbled to himself as he ceased fire and turned around. When he turned he saw four colorful rangers before him. He just let out a scoff of disapproval. "It's those rangers again," he told the man in silver, "I'll handle them, you just continue your work on the dome." With that, he began his way to his former friends with his blaster in tow. "Are you going to run away again rangers? Just let me know so I can save the ammo." Dillon chuckled.

"You know whose side you belong on, Dillon! Just think!" Ziggy shouted to his best friend.

"Aye! Stop all of this meaningless rebellion!" Flynn added, running next to the Green Ranger.

"Rebellion?" Dillon said with disgust. "This isn't merely rebelling, this is a full fledged betrayal!" he screamed, firing a blast at the rangers, hurling them backwards and to the ground. The four rangers all let out a pained groan as they sat up.

"Okay, this is really getting old!" Scott said with annoyance.

"Why is he doing this?!" Flynn shouted.

"He can't help it!" Summer cried. She had been quiet since she had gotten there, but this were she drew the line. She wanted nothing more for him to take her in his arms and kiss her again, so that she would have the Dillon she fell in love with back, but he wasn't here, and there seemed to be nothing she could do about it. She never thought as Dillon to be one to betray the team, and it really wasn't happening now, no matter how painful his blasts were.

"Whether he can help it or not, this really hurts!" Ziggy whined as he rubbed his aching back.

The Black Ranger continued to draw closer to them, still aiming the weapon at his old teammates. "You know," he began. "I can't believe that I haven't gone off on my own sooner. My powers clearly surpass yours!!" with that, he fired another blast at the four rangers. They slammed to the ground once more and fought to get back to their feet.

"Your head's getting a little big for your helmet don't you think?" Scott asked, standing.

"I don't know." Dillon answered simply. "Let's see." He twirled his blaster in his hand and then fired yet another blast at them. They fell to the ground hard, and their ranger powers left them. They writhed on the ground before they even attempted to make it to their feet for a third time.

"I hate to say this, but when it comes to the 'powers surpassing ours', he may be right!" Ziggy whimpered.

"I'm beginning to think this is hopeless!" Flynn cried.

"Not to me it isn't." Summer winced, forcing herself off of the ground.

"Summer, what're you doing?!" Scott screamed, "He'll destroy you!"

Summer turned and looked down to the man that had been like a brother to her. "I refuse to believe that, Scott." She said softly. Then the Yellow Ranger began to stumble herself over to Dillon. She didn't know if this would be her end or not, but she didn't care. She knew that there was still goodness deep inside of Dillon, even if she couldn't see it at the moment.

"What's this?" Dillon asked with amusement. "The Yellow Ranger has a backbone?"

"I know you're in there, Dillon." She said placing her hand gently on the side of his helmet. "And I'm not leaving here without you."

"What-what're you doing?" he asked with shock in his voice. He couldn't believe that she would make herself this vulnerable in the heat of a battle.

"I'm helping you see the truth." Summer said softly. She took his hands in hers and just looked at him. Her actions stirred something deep inside the Black Ranger, something he couldn't control. He retracted his helmet to look at her.

"What truth?" he asked.

Summer stroked his cheek again and looked at him with loving eyes. "The truth that I love you." She told him.

"Love me?" Dillon said, starting to sound a little more like himself with each word.

"Come back to me, Dillon. Come back to all of us." She said, moving in closer to kiss him. Just before their lips touched, Dillon brought back his helmet and took a step back.

"No!!" he screamed, grabbing Summer's arm and forcing it behind her. He held his blaster against her head with a shaky hand. "No more lies!"

Summer felt her body tense as she felt the cold metal of the Rocket Blaster against her head. If Dillon were inside there somewhere, he was buried so deep that not even she could get through to him.

"Whoa!" Flynn exclaimed.

"He's lost it!" Ziggy interjected.

"Whoa, whoa, Dillon." Scott said calmly as he rose to his feet. He held out his arms so that he didn't prompt Dillon to do something drastic. "Put the blaster away. You don't want to do this."

"I don't know _what _I want! I'm just sick of all the lies!" Dillon screamed again. There was a hint of vulnerability in his voice. It was obvious that he was dealing with his own demons at the moment, and he was starting to crack.

"Then how about the truth?" A gentle voice asked from a couple feet away. It was Taryn, emerging from behind a tree. Dillon's attention immediately shifted to her and his breaths were coming quick and harsh as he still clang to Summer's arm. He saw the familiar girl walking towards him. "Your name is Dillon and you're my brother." She said gently. "And I love you too. Please…let Summer go." She said extending an arm.

Dillon saw memory flashes flash in his mind. All of the good times he had with the girl he was holding hostage. When they kissed in the rain, the dinner she made for him that night, and when she consoled him when he punched through the glass of the bathroom mirror. It all came rushing back.

"I can't do this!" The Black Ranger cried, throwing Summer away from him. She was thrown towards Taryn, who caught her and patted her shoulder. "I can't event think straight!"

Summer ran over to the Red, Blue and Green Rangers. There was no doubting the hurt in her eyes when she made it over to them. She was crushed that the man she loved would pull his weapon on her like that. She was at a loss for words and just sat there quietly and still. Only one good thought raced through her mind at the time—something stopped him from pulling the trigger.

"Look into your heart, brother. You know who we are and how we feel about you." Taryn said gently as she grew closer to him.

"Heart?" Dillon answered in disgust. "I don't have a heart!" he roared as he pointed the blaster now at his sister. "And neither do you!"

Taryn took a step back in horror. When Dillon went to go and pull the trigger, he felt something sharp slash against his arm. He grabbed his arm with a cry and turned to see Ziggy holding a smoking Turbo Axe.

"You're wrong my friend!" Ziggy said proudly as he twirled the axe around to aim it at the Black Ranger again. "She does so have a heart! And so do you! That's why you haven't had the nerve to destroy us yet! Because of Dillon's heart!" Then the Green Ranger put himself between him and Taryn.

"Ziggy…" Taryn said softly. She couldn't believe that he was saving her; even after everything she had done to him. He was willing to stand up to his best friend to keep her safe.

"Well," Dillon said resting his blaster on his shoulder, "heart or no heart, I _will_ destroy you rangers." He scowled.

"You'll have to get through me first." Ziggy told him, getting into a fighting stance.

Dillon looked at Ziggy and then to the others and chuckled softly. "Fine. You win, Ranger Green. But I'll be back and next time I won't take it so easy on you." He warned them. He turned around and gathered the Silver Swordsman and the Grinders, and made his retreat.

Scott, Flynn and Summer all ran over to Taryn and Ziggy.

"Are you two alright?" Scott asked them.

"Yeah," Taryn said sadly. She then looked to Ziggy to see if he himself were alright.

"I'm good too." Ziggy answered. The tone in his voice turned melancholy when he looked at Summer. He could only imagine what was going through her mind at the moment.

Summer didn't answer the question she was asked because she wasn't okay. She felt her breaths coming shorter and quicker and the area around her began to spin. Her eyes began to flutter, and then rolled back into her head and she fainted. She fell forward, letting Scott catch her.

"Is she alright?" Flynn asked worriedly.

Scott looked at her sad, lifeless face. He pushed her hair from her face and petted the top of her head. She had been through a lot and Scott knew it. She just couldn't take it anymore. She was like his sister and hated to see her like this.

"Yeah," The Red Ranger replied. "She just fainted is all. She'll be fine after a rest. Let's get her back to the Garage." He said as he hoisted her up in his arms, her limp body swaying with every step he made.

"We can take my jeep." Flynn insisted. "Let's go."


	15. Red to the Rescue

Dillon barged into Venjix's lair in a fury. He was steamed. One part of him wanted nothing more than to destroy the rangers, where the other part wanted to protect them. Something deep within him stopped him from destroying them when he had the chance. He was also being haunted by memory flashes of a past he didn't know was real or not. The memory that he couldn't shake the most was a rainy night with Summer. When he thought back over it, he remembered feeling an uncontrollable love for this girl, and just wanting to hold her forever. He never remembered loving anybody that much. But Dillon had nothing to confirm these flashes, he didn't know fantasy from reality, and this made him feel so furious, that he punched the wall next to him as hard as he could. The wall cracked and crumbled from his fist. Afterwards, he laid his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Why can't I destroy them?" He asked himself. "What's holding me back?"

"Black Ranger!" he heard Venjix sneer at him. Dillon jumped and turned to his new master at attention.

"What can I do you for, Venjix?" he asked with a feigned confidence.

"What you can 'do me for' is explain why you failed at annihilating the rangers, AGAIN!!" Venjix screamed.

Dillon just shrugged. "What can I say? I made an error."

"Well, I'll show you how we handle errors around here!" Venjix shouted. Then the master machine aimed his red eye at the Black Ranger and fired a powerful blast at him. Dillon flew backwards and crashed into the wall behind him. He screamed in pain at his back being already injured. He fell forward on the floor and let out a soft cry. The attack he just took would have killed the average human, luckily his robotics kept him alive. He just laid on the floor with his eyes shut tightly, he couldn't move, he felt glued to the floor.

"Maybe that will show you what's in store for you if you screw up like that again!" Venjix yelled at him. "Next time if you fail, don't bother coming back here unless you want your destruction to be slow and painful!"

Dillon forced himself to his knees with a wince. His back was on fire, and he knew that if he were human, he'd probably be paralyzed by now. He just looked at Venjix as he panted softly. It was like a candle burning at both ends for him, either way he went now; he was going to get burned.

"I'll give you one more chance to prove yourself, ranger!" Venjix shouted, moving the claw to the large pit beside him and pulling out a strange rectangular object. "Use this to lure the rangers out. If you do this right, then they will all be destroyed along with a considerable amount of Corinth." He yelled, throwing the object before Dillon. He picked it up and looked at it. He knew what it was the second he saw it. "Do not fail me." Venjix warned him.

Dillon just scowled and forced himself to his feet. With the object in tow, he stormed out of the lair. He didn't know what was going on with him, but he knew he had a mission to complete, and he intended to do it right.

It was back to the night where Dillon and Summer had dinner together. The two were in each other's arms, kissing passionately in the falling rain. She fell into his arms for a warm embrace, she felt so safe with him, just being in his arms—it was paradise. When the hugging stopped she went to go look in his eyes, and when she did, Dillon's eyes were pure white. She immediately stepped backwards away from him. She felt her pulse quicken as a smirk spread across Dillon's face.

"Dillon, what's going on?" she asked in an frightened tone.

Dillon didn't answer, he just continued to glare at her mysteriously. He reached behind his back and pulled out a blaster, aiming it right at her face.

"I said that I would destroy you, Yellow Ranger." He said coldly.

Summer breathing quickened and she felt herself panic. Just as the shot was fired, she felt something cool on her forehead and she jumped awake. She screamed as she sat up. She turned to see Scott stroking her arm gently, and a cool rag falling into her lap.

"It's okay, it's okay!" the Red Ranger assured her.

"Scott?" Summer asked between breaths. "Where am I?"

"You're at the Garage." Scott said softly, making her lay back down. He placed the cool cloth on her forehead once again. "You fainted after our last battle. You're fine now." A moment of silence passed before he spoke again. "That must've been some nightmare. You were tossing and turning a lot. You kept saying Dillon's name."

"I didn't have a nightmare." Summer lied.

Scott just shot her a look. "Come on, Summer, you can't lie to me. What happened?" Scott told her. He always seemed to know her so well, sometimes a little better than she knew herself. But he was good to have around in hard times—he was so strong. He was just like a big brother to her.

Summer just took the rag from her head and sat up slowly. She pulled her knees into her chest as she just stared at the bed. "Fine…I had a nightmare." She admitted.

"About?" Scott asked.

"Dillon." She answered flatly. She shuddered when she remembered what happened in her dream. The thought of him destroying her shook her to her very core.

"What did he do?" Scott asked her.

"He was…going to destroy me." Summer answered with a low sigh.

"That's rough. Did he?" Scott asked.

"No. I woke up before anything happened. But I can't stop thinking about how he _did_ almost destroy me." Summer admitted sadly. "I mean, if Taryn hadn't shown up—"

"Then what?" Scott interrupted. "He would have just pulled the trigger? I doubt that."

"He held a blaster to my head!" Summer shouted at the Red Ranger.

"I know…I know." Scott said gently as he took her shoulders to calm her. "But you've got to believe me when I tell you…I know that he wouldn't have done it, no matter how warped his mind is right now."

"What makes you so sure?" Summer asked, her voice cracking.

"Because I've seen the way he looks at you, Summer—we all have. And evil or not, Dillon would never destroy you—ever." Scott told her. The sincerity in his voice was clear. Scott was never one to lie, especially about something this serious.

"I love him, Scott." Summer said, pulling her knees in again and shutting her eyes. "So much it hurts."

"I know." Scott replied, patting her shoulder. "Dillon feels the same way about you, I know he does. He just needs help right now, help we can give him if we don't give up."

"And I won't." Summer said shaking her head.

"Neither will I," Scott told her, taking her hand. "none of us will."

Summer couldn't help it, she just had to hug the Red Ranger. He was so helpful during all of this, and she really appreciated it. Especially given the fact that he and Dillon were like rivals, Scott could have easily made Dillon look bad. But he didn't, because Scott was a good man. Summer knew that Doctor K had made him team leader for a reason, and now Summer knew why—his physical and emotional strength.

"Thank you, Scott." Summer said, finally smiling. "What would I do without you?"

When the two pulled away from one another, Scott looked at her. "You'll never have to find out." He said sweetly, and then the two hugged once more.


	16. A Message for Ranger Black

It was a warm and breezy afternoon, and Taryn was on the roof of the Garage. She leaned over the steel railing looking over the domed city of Corinth around her. She saw the cerulean colored sky, beautiful pink cherry blossom trees scattered about, and the sun hanging brightly above her. It was a gorgeous day—at least in appearance. When she looked at the city she couldn't help but feel a little sad, she knew this was all fake—programmed. Then she began to realize that she and Dillon were a lot like the city of Corinth, both programmed and nothing more than data. She let out a sad sigh as the cool breeze hit her face. She jumped when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Whatcha doing up here?" the voice asked.

When Taryn turned around she saw Ziggy with his hands buried in his pockets. He slowly made his way over to her.

Oh…nothing. Just thinking." She said softly.

"About what?" Ziggy asked, hopping up to sit on the bars of the railing, facing her.

"Life." Taryn answered. "About how my brother and I never really fully remembered ours. It's like we were born two years ago."

"But you weren't." Ziggy told her. "You had a life and I'm sure in time that you'll remember it." He was trying to make her feel better, but he didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

After a brief pause, Taryn finally spoke again. "He was right you know."

"Who?" Ziggy asked.

"My brother—when he said that we didn't have hearts." Taryn told him sadly. "We're just like this city—programmed. Nothing is original, it's all just pre-loaded data."

Upon hearing this, Ziggy hopped down from the bar. He was shocked to hear Taryn talk this way. "That's not true." He assured her.

"But it is, Ziggy!" She cried, pounding the bar with her hand. "I remember nothing about my life before two years ago! I don't remember my favorite color or song! I know nothing about myself, all I remember is that I've spent the past few months harming innocents when I worked for Venjix and I can't undo that." She said. The tone of her voice was sad and full of shame. Taryn knew that she was bad in her past and that it couldn't be undone. She felt that no matter what she did she would always have that cloud hanging over her. Her brown eyes filled with tears, she turned away from Ziggy to hide them. But Ziggy took her hands and looked into her eyes.

"Listen to me, Taryn," he said firmly. "We've all made mistakes in our past that we're not proud of, mistakes that can't be fixed, but it's not about the past, it's about how you do things in the future that matter. "Who cares if you used to serve Venjix? _I_ used to be in a Cartel, but I've left that life to become a ranger. I realized I'd rather help people than hurt them---just like you. You saved those kids in the park that day, that's heroic." He sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke in a kind tone. "You have heart, Taryn. I've seen the real you with my own eyes. And as far as remembering your life, I'll look at every color in the rainbow and listen to every song on the radio to help you remember. I'll do whatever it takes." He said sweetly.

"Is that why you saved me?" Taryn asked him.

"No." Ziggy told her. "I saved you because I know you're a good person who deserves a second chance."

"And what about Dillon?" she asked.

"He deserves another chance too, because, like you, I know he's a good person." Ziggy replied. "We'll save him…somehow."

Taryn just smiled and gave a small nod. "Thank you, Ziggy. You're a great person."

"So are you." He told her, falling closer towards her lips. "And I'm going to help you see that." Then the Green Ranger took his hands and gently took Taryn's cheeks in them, wiping her tears away, and then he leaned in and kissed her. He stroked her hair as she fell into his kiss; she grabbed his shoulders, pulling him closer. It was then that a thought hit her, if he could accept her for all of her imperfections, there was no reason she couldn't do the same.

Dillon stormed into an abandoned building in the slums of Corinth, the Silver Swordsman stomping loudly behind him. It was easy to see the fury filling Dillon's white eyes as he held a silver rectangular object the size of a large book in his hands. The object was metallic looking with a red square light in the middle of it.

As Dillon and the Swordsman entered the remains of the building, they saw crumbled walls and turned desks all over the place. It was a total wreck; it looked like a wrecking ball had just hit the place. Fluorescent light bulbs flickered and hung from the ceiling. File cabinets were on their sides.

Dillon just walked up to a wall that was half standing and stuck the metal object to it. He pressed a few keys on the bottom of the object, activating it.

"This'll show those rangers who they're messing with." Dillon mumbled evilly to himself. "This'll show all of Corinth. When I blow this city to pieces, there will be no one left to interfere!" As Dillon continued to hit the keys, memories flooded through his mind again. He heard Taryn calling out his name, the Silver Swordsman attacking Corinth, and last he saw him and Summer kissing in the rain again. When he came to, he just shook the memories from his head, ignoring them. "No," he told himself, "I'm not falling for this again. No more lies. Corinth city will fall and I'll be the one to thank." He sneered as he finished with the device.

Scott continued to comfort Summer and keep her company. He figured she could use all the kindness she could get at the moment given the circumstances. They were interrupted when they heard a faint knock on the door and saw it open.

Flynn walked in the room. You could tell in his face that he felt bad for barging in on them. "Sorry to interrupt but there's trouble in the rougher side of Corinth." He told the two.

Scott sighed and patted Summer's leg. "I'll be right there." He said dejectedly. "Thanks for notifying me."

"No problem at all mate." Flynn replied, leaving the room. He gave Summer a comforting smile before he left. Flynn always cared about Summer, he, like Scott, was like her older brother, he would do anything for her, no matter how big or small it was.

Scott sighed again and threw his head back. "Sorry, Summer. I have to go. I think it's best if you stay here." He told her.

"But…why?" she asked in shock.

"Because while you may be physically strong at the moment, you're not emotionally. Your emotions are too involved in this, Summer. It'll distract you in the fight, and I care too much about you to let you be hurt. So, I'm making a call as team leader." Scott said, putting Summer's wellbeing first.

Summer sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She admitted. "I can barely focus on sleeping, much less a battle. But…" she trailed off.

"What?" Scott insisted.

"Can you tell Dillon something for me if…if he comes back to his old self?" she asked.

"Anything." Scott said. "Just tell me."

"Just tell him…that I love him." She said softly.

Scott just looked and her and nodded in response. He felt so terrible for her that she was going through this. He wished he could just slap Dillon and make him come to his senses. What would he tell her if Dillon really _was_ gone forever? He couldn't stand to see her crumble like that. He just hoped with everything in him that things worked out for her, because out of all the people he's met that needed something, she needed this the most.

"You got it." He finally said. Scott gave Summer's shoulder one final pat before he left the room. Summer just laid back down in her small bed and stared at the ceiling. He could only imagine what was going through her mind at the moment. He couldn't help but think about how vulnerable she looked, he'd never seen her so worried.

Summer didn't have the heart to tell Scott that she wasn't really physically fine either. Her body ached all over from their last battle. But what ached the most was her heart. And the only thing that could fix it was having Dillon back in her arms again.


	17. Brotherly Battle

Meanwhile on the roof of the Garage, Ziggy and Taryn were still locked in their kiss. They held one another close and they embraced one another. Neither one of them had ever really been in a relationship before, but so far, they were enjoying it. It was both of their first kiss, and it was perfect in every way. Suddenly, nothing seemed to matter.

But reality set in when their kiss eventually ended. They separated from one another slowly, neither one really wanting too.

"Thanks again, Ziggy." Taryn said, finally smiling brightly.

"Hey, all I did was tell the truth." Ziggy told her.

As the two went to kiss again, Ziggy's Morpher went off. He muttered something in frustration as he held the Morpher to his face.

"Yeah, yeah, what is it?" Ziggy asked quickly and annoyed.

"Oh, uh, sorry, man, I just needed to tell you that Dillon and that Tin Man are back." Flynn said apologetically. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just kind of in the middle of something here." Ziggy said, looking at Taryn, feeling humiliated that their moment was interrupted.

"Well, it'll have to wait I'm afraid. Sorry. Bring Taryn with you if you see her, alright?" Flynn said.

"I will, she's actually standing right here." Ziggy answered, gesturing to her even though he couldn't see it.

"Aye? Where are the two of you?" Flynn asked.

"Th-the roof." Ziggy replied, closing his eyes, dreading what was coming.

A few awkward moments passed before Flynn's voice came back through the feed. It was obvious he was grinning ear to ear. "Oh, I see. Shooting the breeze with the lass there, eh? Wow, Ziggy, I never knew you were such a ladies ma—"

Ziggy cut the feed before the Blue Ranger could finish—he was mortified. He chuckled nervously when he looked at Taryn, who had a smile on her face. She almost looked flattered.

"S-sorry about that there. Flynn's…well…Flynn's crazy." Ziggy said nervously.

"Well, he had a point." Taryn said, locking her arm in his. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're more charming than you think."

"Really?" Ziggy asked, now grinning himself.

"Really." Taryn replied, and then a serious look hit her face as she remembered why Flynn had called. "Let's go save my brother." She said with determination.

"Right behind you." Ziggy answered as he and Taryn ran downstairs.

The Power Rangers and Taryn all ran to their vehicles to head the call of trouble. Ziggy and Taryn rode with Flynn and Scott took his pride and joy. Scott and Flynn drove as fast as they could to where their Morphers lead them. Their tires screeched to a halt in front of an abandoned, crumbling building. The area they were in was a total ghost town, so it was clear this area wasn't the safest of places. They exited their cars and looked at the building before them.

"Be on your guard guys." Scott warned them. "There's no telling what the two of them are planning in there." Scott walked in first with Flynn following him. Ziggy wrapped his arm around Taryn as they walked into the dismembered building. The inside looked worse than the outside. Papers and turned desks were everywhere and the floors creaked with each of their steps. The three rangers looked around to see if they saw anything suspicious.

"Wait!" Flynn exclaimed, putting his hand up to his ear. "Do you hear that noise?" he asked.

"It's like…rhythmic beeping." Ziggy stated as he listened more closely.

"Gee, and I thought you were stupid." A voice said from beyond. When the rangers turned to see who it was, they saw Dillon leaning against a crumbled wall with his arms folded. "Guess the joke's on me."

"What're you doing here _now_, Dillon?" Scott asked with an irritated tone of voice.

Dillon pushed himself off of the wall before he spoke. "Funny you should ask that, Red Ranger. I was just getting ready to share that information with you." Dillon said with a smirk. "It's a wall mine." The rangers all exclaimed with a gasp.

"So that's it?!" Flynn yelled in fury. "You're just going to blow us all up in this scrap heap of a building?! Real clever!!"

"It _is_ clever, Blue Ranger." Dillon told him. "This is no ordinary wall mine. This is one of _Venjix's_ wall mines. Meaning it has the potential to blow up anything—including this pathetic shell of a city." He explained.

"What?!" Ziggy screamed. "Are you nuts?! You'd be destroying thousands of innocent people!"

"Including yourself!" Scott interjected.

"So?" Dillon shrugged. "Venjix will just repair me again." He turned his back to the rangers. "I'll prove to my master that I am worth to serve him, and who I have to destroy in the process doesn't matter—even if it's myself."

"It's not that simple, Dillon!" Taryn cried. "Your body can't handle another strain like that! You barely survived the first time!"

Dillon turned his head when he heard her words. "And how do you know that?" he asked her.

Shock fell over Taryn's face. "What? I'm your sister. Don't you remember?" she asked sadly.

"I remember the lies you and your friends fed to me. You're not my sister and they're not my friends." He told her coldly, gesturing towards the rangers. "And I'll make sure you don't interfere this time." He sneered.

"W-what?" Taryn asked nervously.

Dillon smirked evilly once more. "Swordsman!" he called out.

Suddenly, the Silver Swordsman emerged from the darkness. His eyes glowed a faint purple color. His footsteps thudded loudly with every landing. And when he found an opening, he fired a beam that matched the color of his eyes at Taryn.

"Taryn!!" Ziggy screamed, trying to reach for her. But she was thrown backwards a few feet and became encased in a faint purple glass prison. Ziggy immediately ran over to it and banged on the glass.

"Taryn!" he shouted again, pounding his hands as hard as he could on the glass.

Taryn rose from the ground with no apparent injuries. She ran to the glass to meet up with Ziggy, pounding on it herself. "Ziggy! Help me!" she cried.

"I'll get you out of there!" Ziggy assured her. With that, he pulled out his Turbo Axe and hurled it right for the glass. Although he hit it full force, it didn't seem to even nick the glass—it was impenetrable.

"Damn it!" Ziggy shouted, slamming his axe on the ground.

Dillon just let out a wicked chuckle. "Slash at the glass all you like, Green Ranger, but the only way to retract that glass is by the Silver Swordsman's command." He told him snidely.

Scott growled furiously. "I've had enough of this!!" he screamed, pulling out his Nitro Blaster and aiming it at Dillon's face.

"Go ahead and pull the trigger, Red Ranger, but if you do you'll destroy everything in Corinth," Dillon stated, gesturing to the wall mine, "and everyone." The wall mined glowed with a green light showing that it was activated and would explode at any form of fire. "Wanna morph to make this more interesting?" He asked, holding up his wrist, showing his Morpher.

The three rangers all grunted in anger. Scott and Flynn pulled out their Morphers and Ziggy activated the one on his wrist. The three rangers all slid their keys into their Morphers and slammed them closed—as did Dillon.

"RPM—Get in gear!" the four shouted in unison, their ranger powers falling over them.

Ziggy looked back to the glass holding Taryn with sad eyes. "Taryn…"

"Go, Ziggy." Taryn told him. "I'm safe here. Innocents need you." She said mustering a small smile.

Ziggy placed his glove on the glass. "I'll get you out of there somehow." He told her.

"I know you will." She said. "Now go." Ziggy just nodded and joined his buddies.

"This city of Corinth will crumble, and you'll experience it first hand!!" Dillon shouted, pointing at the rangers. And just like that, the battle was on.


	18. Saviour in Black

Back at the Garage, Summer peeled herself out of bed and headed downstairs. She wanted to help Doctor K monitor the fight Dillon and the others were engaged in, no matter what she could happen to see. She headed sluggishly down the stairs with a heart broken look on her face. She honestly wished she were in the battle with the others, she wanted to help in any way that she could to get Dillon back to his old self. She just wanted to see his face again—white-eyes or not. She only hoped that was Scott told her earlier was true, that Dillon loved her as much as she loved him. When she made it into the lab, she saw Doctor K look up from her rapid typing.

"Feeling better, Ranger Yellow?" she asked. The tone in her voice showed that she really didn't care one way or the other.

"More or less." Summer answered lowly, running her fingers through her blonde hair.

"What brings you down here? I thought Ranger Red ordered you to relax." The Doctor asked, still typing away.

Summer walked over to another computer in the room and began typing on in and moving the mouse. "I was just tossing and turning in my bed. I can't sleep, so I thought I'd come down here and at least _watch_ the fight." She said with a hint of resentment in her voice. She hated being cooped up here, she wanted to help her friends, she wanted to help everyone, that was just Summer's way. Sitting on the sidelines was not her forte. She had such an active lifestyle that any extra time she had on her hands made her restless.

Doctor K was never one to console people, but she reached for anything she could. "I'm…sure Ranger Operators Red, Blue and Green will find a way to bring Ranger Black back to his senses." She said slowly. This was one of the few nicer things she had ever said and it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Summer looked to the doctor with a hint of a smile. "Thanks, Doctor K." she said then a smile crossed her face, "I hope so."

"You don't seem convinced." Doctor K told her.

"I just hate that this is happening. I mean, Dillon finally found his sister and that quick," she said with a snap, "things go wrong."

"But that's not all that's bugging you is it, Ranger Yellow?" Doc K asked.

Summer turned around with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean you're feelings towards Ranger Black." K said, stopping her typing and looking at Summer.

"Feelings?" Summer asked. Was she that obvious that she was crazy about him, or did Doctor K _really_ know everything?

"Precisely. It's obvious that you and Ranger Black have romantic feelings for one another, just as Ranger Green has for that Taryn girl." She said, resuming her typing.

Summer took a moment to absorb Doctor K's words. "Ziggy likes Taryn?" she asked in disbelief.

With that, Doctor K rose from her desk and headed over to Summer. "Just as you like Dillon." She said in a softer voice than Summer had ever heard from her, she almost sounded…sweet. She couldn't believe that she referred to Dillon as anything other than Ranger Black, her eyes grew wide with surprise. "Summer, I may know a lot about ranger bio-hardware and Zord technologies, but I also know love when I see it, and it's definitely there with you and Dillon. Don't give up on him, believe in your love for one another." Doctor K explained, patting Summer's shoulder. Summer just let her words sink in; she couldn't believe that the Doctor was saying all of this. Maybe she was wrong to judge her so quickly in the beginning. Doctor K was actually a really nice person underneath all of that intelligence. And if Doctor K could see the love between her and Dillon, it really must he there—it must be real.

"Alright." Summer said with a warm smile. "Thanks, Doctor K."

The Doctor just gave a node in response. "You may still watch the battle from here as long as it won't upset you in any manner. You're emotions have been roller-coasting like crazy over the past couple days." She told her, returning to her desk.

"I'll do my best." Summer answered softly, returning her attention to the screen. Summer still couldn't believe that Dr. K had such a soft side. She couldn't help but wonder if she had ever been in love herself.

Taryn watched nervously as the four rangers' battle progressed. Her gaze kept shifting over to the Silver Swordsman, who seemed to be keeping a close eye on her. She couldn't find any way to escape, between him watching her and the strength of the glass that confined her. She couldn't help but still be completely intimidated by him; she still hadn't made a full emotional recovery from what he did to her. She knew what one blast from those horrible eyes of him could do, and she didn't want any part of it. She also hated seeing her own brother pummel the man she cared about, as well as her friends. She knew Dillon as the type to always save people, never harming them. It was weird to see Dillon acting like this—it made her feel uneasy.

What killed her also was knowing that the rangers couldn't use their weapons to defend themselves, for if they did, they'd risk blowing up an entire city. On the good side, however, was that Dillon couldn't fire his weapon either, protecting her friends from the wrath of his Rocket Blaster. But it was all the heroes could do to protect themselves from Dillon's flurry of punches and kicks. It pained her to think that even if they could handle Dillon, they still had the Silver Swordsman to deal with, and his powers were unsurpassable as far as she knew. Every time the rangers fought him in the past he defeated them with just his eyes. She didn't see how any of this could end well. It scared her how still the swordsman was being, it was like he was just waiting for her to make a move so he could attack her. So she remained as still as she could.

The Black Ranger continued the battle in a brutal manner. Using his heightened strength, he picked up a desk beside him and heaved it at the rangers. Luckily, they managed to roll out of the way. But this only made Dillon angrier, so he continued to wail on them with his quick punches and kicks. He moved much faster than the others, so he used that to his advantage to fight the three of them-- it was like he was three people himself.

Scott saw Dillon pick up a steel chair and throw it right for him, so, thinking quickly, he pulled out his Street Saber and quickly slashed it away. The chair soared right back at the Black Ranger, nailing him in the torso. But the chair merely broke as it collided with Dillon—he didn't feel a thing.

"Whoa…" Ziggy said in awe. "It just broke right off of him, like…Superman or something!"

Dillon just dusted off the area where the chair hit him. "I won't lose to you pathetic rangers," he said walking over to them, the three rangers got in a offensive stance with their weapons drawn, "I won't allow myself too."

"We shouldn't even be fighting in the first place, man!" Flynn shouted. "We're pals! You've got to try and remember!"

"Save your breath, Flynn." Scott told him in an angry voice. "No mere words are going to get through to him."

"You should listen this leader of yours…" Dillon began, "…he's the smartest of all of you."

"Thanks." Scott said simply. "I'm glad you noticed that. I know words won't convince you of anything." He said, pressing a button on the side of his helmet, making him demorph. "I have to take action."

"You're foolish Red Ranger." Dillon warned him. He then pulled out his Rocket Blaster and aimed in for the ranger in red. "You got a death wish?" he asked with a hiss.

"No." Scott answered, standing before the weapon fearlessly. He extended his arms, giving Dillon a perfect shot. "If you really think you can…do it. Destroy me. Right here, right now." He said, glaring at the Black Ranger.

"Are you mad?!" Flynn screamed to his leader.

"He'll destroy you!!" Ziggy cried.

"No he won't." Scott answered, never taking his eyes off of Dillon. "He's had plenty of chances to destroy us and he never took them. I know that it's not coincidence."

Dillon pressed the side of his helmet making himself demorph as well. "Do you have something to prove, Red Ranger?" he asked coldly.

"I do." Scott told him. "That somewhere deep inside of you there's a heart. Something pure and good that wants to help people. You spent two years of your life trying to find Taryn, you tormented yourself about not being able to save her." He said. After a moment he let out a soft sigh, "You're not a bad guy, Dillon. It just so happens you're one of the good ones."

Scott's words really seemed to hit Dillon hard. You could see it in his eyes that he was really taking in what he said—considering that it may be the truth he had been looking for. He looked at Scott and then to his sister, he saw how frightened she seemed in that prison, he hated that scared face and he never wanted to cause it. After a beat he looked at his weapon and threw it on the ground and backed up.

"What am I doing?" He asked himself. "You guys are my friends." With that, he ran over to Taryn's cage and put his hand on the glass. "And you're my sister. God, I'm so sorry." He told her. The shame in his voice was familiar; it's exactly how she felt when she first turned good. Suddenly, Dillon felt a twinge of pain fill his head, he winced and pressed his head against the glass, holing it tightly. Taryn knew all too well what he was going through.

"Dillon…" She said softly, trying to touch him even through the glass.

When the pain subsided, he looked up at his sister with his beautiful brown eyes.

"Dillon?" Taryn asked expectantly.

"Taryn!" Dillon exclaimed. "I'm me again!" he said happily, looking himself over. After a moment he turned to his friends. "Thank you." He said with sincerity.

Scott, Flynn and Ziggy all smiled in relief. The Green and Blue Rangers demorphed to join Scott and Dillon.

"Thank you all…" Dillon said again. "…for not giving up on me."

"Hey," Scott shrugged, "that's what friends are for."

Dillon looked around and a serious look fell over his face when he noticed something. "Where's Summer?" he asked.

"No worries, she's taking a well-deserved rest in the Garage." Scott assured him. "And she wanted me to tell you something for her." He said, a smile taking his face. "She wanted me to tell you that—" he began, when a fire was shot across the room. The blast nailed Dillon and threw him far back; the others couldn't even see him anymore. "Dillon!" Scott exclaimed.

"Scott! Behind you!!" Taryn screamed to the Red Ranger. The three rangers all turned to see the Silver Swordsman close behind them, crimson eyes glowing brightly.

"That blast could have detonated the wall mine!" Flynn yelled. "It needs to be deactivated—now!"

"I can do it!" Ziggy volunteered. "I can hack into almost anything!"

"Fine—go!" Scot ordered him. "Flynn and I will try and handle this guy!"

"On it my man!" Ziggy replied as he scurried over to the wall mine, darting quickly pass the Swordsman.

Scott turned to Flynn as only he and his blue comrade stood before the silver beast. "Ready to get back in the battle?" he asked.

"Just say the words!" Flynn replied with a smirk.

"Right!" Scott said, pulling out his Morpher, Flynn doing the same. "RPM—Get in gear!" They called, getting back into their ranger forms.

"Street Saber!" Scott shouted, unsheathing the large blade.

"Turbo Cannon!" Flynn added, holding up the hefty cannon.

"Whatever you do, don't aim anywhere near Ziggy! Got it Blue?" Red asked, looking over to him.

"Aye, don't blow up the city—got it!" Flynn joked to ease the moment. Then the two rangers ran at the Silver Swordsman, weapons drawn.

Meanwhile, Taryn was trying to see where Dillon flew to. She pounded on the glass, crying out his name, trying desperately to find him. She finally noticed him lying under a small pile of rubble on his stomach. She could tell he was still breathing and that was good enough for her.

"Dillon! Dillon, wake up!" she cried, smacking the glass.

"Prepare to fire at your six o clock!" Scott ordered the Blue Ranger as he prepared his own attack.

"Fire!!" Flynn screamed, firing the weapon where his leader told him. His harsh blast missed, hitting an old water cooler and exploding it on impact.

"We have to hit the diamond on his chest!" "Scott shouted.

Suddenly, the Silver Swordsman's eyes blinked red once more, and fired a powerful blast at the two rangers. The blast nailed them, causing them to crash into an unstable wall. When they made contact with it, it crumbled around them, bombarding them with shards of brick. The rangers demorphed once more. They laid face down on the ground groaning painfully, their bodies ached all over. It seemed that no matter what they did, they couldn't even scratch the metal man's armor. When Ziggy saw that they were injured, he left his post and ran over to them.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked, trying to help them up.

"Aye! But you have to focus on deactivating the wall mine!" Flynn told him.

"I-I did! It's done!" Ziggy told them happily with a hint of pride.

Meanwhile the Green Ranger failed to notice that the Swordsman's eyes were flashing red at him. And the Silver Swordsman fired a harsh blast right at him. He hit the same wall remains that Scott and Flynn did and landed next to them. The three rangers were down.

"Ziggy!" Taryn cried. "Are you okay?!" Now the two men she cared about more than anything were in sever danger, and there was nothing she could do to help them.

"Yeah." Ziggy answered weakly, "Just sore…all over."

Then the Swordsman's eyes glowed a new color, the flickered green which allowed him to lift the three defeated rangers. He lifted them high off of the ground, only to slam them hard back into it. When they hit the ground, the Silver Swordsman made his eyes glow purple, and then fired a blast at them, encasing them in a glass prison like Taryn. When they were finally able to make it back to their feet, they pounded on the glass as hard as they could, knowing all the while that it was most likely useless.

"No!! Let us out of here!" Scott roared.

"Free us, you ugly fiend!!" Flynn shouted as he pounded the glass with his fists.

"I'm claustrophobic!" Ziggy whimpered, looking around at the confined space surrounding him.

Nothing seemed as if it would free them from their glass prison the Silver Swordsman created. Taryn on the other hand, was freed from hers and stood frozen in fear on the ground. It was only she and the Swordsman again, just like before, and she felt more scared than she had the last time. She couldn't move as she watched the silver beast encroach on her, her breaths came in horrified whimpers standing there. She wanted to run, but she knew that it would make no difference if she did, in fact it would only make things worse. She just felt herself panic as she backed up slowly, knowing that she was going to have to face this fate in one way or the other.

"Taryn, no!!" Ziggy screamed, reaching for her, pressing hard against the glass to try and get to her.

Meanwhile, Dillon found himself waking up under an old file cabinet. He pushed the objects off of him and tried to remember how he got in this position. It all clicked when he saw Scott, Flynn and Ziggy trapped in a cage and Taryn about to be destroyed at the hands of the Swordsman. Dillon knew that the beast wanted nothing more than to destroy her after how she had betrayed him, and it seemed as if nothing was going to stop him from completing his task. He watched while he grew closer to her with his sword drawn and ready to strike. The fear in Taryn's eyes was so intense, he hated seeing it, he hated that she was feeling that kind of horror. He watched her back into a wall with nowhere else to go, he had her cornered. A tear slid down her face and the man in silver let out a wicked snicker. He lifted his sword and began to lower it to destroy her. And just before the blade hit her, Dillon leapt in front of her in his ranger form, activating his invincibility shield with one hand, and holding a Nitro Sword in the other.

"Dillon! What're you doing?!" Taryn exclaimed.

"What I should have done the first time." Dillon told her, using everything in him to ward off his opponent. "Now, run!!" he ordered.

Taryn just stood there for a brief moment. She was so relieved that he was good again, but hated that he was having to fight off this horrible menace. But she knew that it would be a lost cause to argue with him now. If there was one thing Dillon always was, it was determined. So she ran off to the side, next to the glass that held the three rangers.

Dillon brought his Nitro Sword close to the Silver Swordsman's weak point, but the shield and warding him off was making it hard for him to move. Both blades were growing dangerously close to their targets.

"Dillon stop this! You're shield time's almost up!" Scott shouted to his friend.

"You can't do this! There has to be another way!" Flynn shouted as well.

"Please, don't do this!" Ziggy yelled at the top of his lungs.

But Dillon didn't listen. He knew that this _was_ the only way. This was the only chance he had to get this close to defeating the Swordsman, and if he didn't take this opportunity when he had it, he may not get another chance. This was his destiny.

After a small second, Dillon's shield expired, allowing him to ram his Nitro Sword square into the Silver Swordsman's diamond. But this also allowed the Swordsman to jab _his_ sword, right into Dillon's side. The two opponents just stood there paralyzed for a moment, unable to believe that the other got them. Dillon's eyes grew wide as he felt the blade, and Taryn felt her breath leave her when she saw this happen.

A beat later, the Silver Swordsman disappeared into nothing more than grey dust, as well as his hefty blade. Dillon was able to nail him in is one and only weak point, defeating him. He was gone in a flash, freeing Scott and the others from their glass cage. Dillon just stood there for a moment before he demorphed and fell to the floor. He just looked to Taryn as he fell, she could tell from the look in his eyes that this was something he knew he had to do.

"No…" Taryn whimpered as she watched her one and only brother fall to the floor. She darted over to him as fast as her legs would take her, the others following close behind her.


	19. A Glimpse of Hope

Back at the Garage, Doctor K watched this all happened right before her. She noticed that Summer hadn't seen anything yet, so she quickly shut down all of the computer monitors so she couldn't. Doctor K never really liked Dillon as a person, but she knew he was a good ranger, and couldn't believe that something like this would happen. And the reason it happened is what stunned her most of all—he sacrificed himself to save his sister.

Summer turned around when she noticed her monitor was shut off. "Doctor K, what're you doing?" she asked in a somewhat annoyed tone.

Doctor K had to think up a lie and fast. Luckily she was good at things like this, so she headed back to her computer and began to type quickly. "I must've stumbled across some sort of mini virus in the system, none of the feeds are responding. I'll try and see what the problem is." She said breezily.

"Well…just hurry." Summer told her with a hint of suspicion as she turned back to her black monitor.

Dillon just lay there on the ground breathing heavily. His breaths came in small gasps as he strived to keep his eyes open. Taryn sat by his side, grabbing his hand and her eyes filling with tears. Dillon just stared at the ceiling for a moment, knowing what was coming. Ziggy just looked blank, Dillon was his best friend out of everyone and he couldn't stand to see him like this. Scott just paced the floor back and forth nervously holding his Morpher.

"Don't worry, Dillon." Scott said, beginning to press keys on his Morpher, "I'm going to get Doctor K on this right away." Scott actually sounded nervous. This was the first time he had ever sounded this way. He knew that he argued with the Black Ranger, but deep down he really liked him, he was like a brother that he's compete with, and he wanted to do anything and everything he could to help him.

"D-don't." Dillon said weakly, holding up a hand slowly. "It wouldn't make a difference."

"Dillon, why did you do that?!" Taryn cried. "That attack was meant for me!"

Dillon just turned to her, still breathing harshly. This reminded her of when he was sick at Venjix's base, he was suffering and there was nothing she could do about it. "Because I couldn't stand losing you twice." He told her softly.

"Please," Taryn sniffled, "let Doctor K help you. There has to be something she can do." A tear fell from Taryn's cheek onto Dillon's hand.

"She would have to re-program me…I wouldn't be the same." He said sadly. "I want to be known as Dillon. I was happy as Dillon."

"You can't just leave like this! Not after we finally found each other again! I want to know about your life!" she sobbed, grabbing his hand even tighter.

"The only thing you need to know about my life…" Dillon began, pulling out his silver pocket watch, "is that it was worth giving up to finally save you." He told her, handing her the watch. "I'm so sorry, Taryn. For everything."

Taryn took the watch and held it close to her chest. "What can I do? I have to do something." She cried softly.

"Just…tell Summer that I love her, and that I'm sorry." He said, breathing a final breath. His body went limp and his eyes slowly closed. His grip on Taryn's hand was released.

"Dillon?" Taryn whimpered when she noticed his hand's grip loosening, she shook it in the mere hope of getting it to tighten again—but it didn't. She took his shoulders in her hands and shook them hard, "This can't happen! You're my brother! You shouldn't have saved me!" she screamed through her tears. Ziggy just ran to her side and grabbed her. She fell into his arms and pounded her hand on his shoulder, crying hysterically. The Green Ranger just pet her head as he fought back tears of his own. For it wasn't only Taryn's brother that was lost—it was his best friend.

Flynn had glassy eyes as he heaved a long sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He stared at the ground because he couldn't bring himself to look at his fallen friend, or the pain his other friends were feeling. Scott just had wide eyes. He couldn't believe that losing someone he was close to could still hurt this much. He had already lost his brother in the heat of battle, and now one of his fellow rangers was gone too. It was times like this that he hated being the team leader, because he had to be the strong one in the group and put his feelings aside.

The Red Ranger just looked at his friend and rival in pure horror. "Um," he began. "This was his choice. He wanted to be able to make things up to Taryn and save her…that's what he did." He said lowly. It was obvious to the others that he was trying with everything in him not to cry. "He'll be highly honored for that. I'll see to it."

A horrible thought all seemed to hit the rangers simultaneously—how were they going to tell Summer? They knew she was madly in love with him as he was with her, and this was going to destroy her. It was hard enough for her when he was gone all the time due to being under the control of the Silver Swordsman, they had no idea how they were going to break something of this magnitude to her.

Taryn continued to weep in Ziggy's arms, he hated that he couldn't take this pain away from her. He cared about her so much, and seeing her like this made him ache. He didn't know how he should console her, so he did all he could at the moment—he held her. He saw her hand that was holding the watch fall to the floor. The watch rolled out of her hand and from the impact of hitting the ground, the glass popped out, revealing a small circular object. All the rangers took notice of it.

"What's that?" Flynn asked, looking at it strangely.

Ziggy just picked up the object and observed it. After a moment, his eyes grew wide.

"What is it, Ziggy?" Scott asked him.

"Let's just get Dillon back to the Garage as soon as possible." He answered, looking at the item in his hand.

"Why? What's going on?" Taryn asked.

Ziggy just looked at her. He knew what this object had the potential to do, but he didn't want to give her false hope. "Just trust me, okay?" he told her.

"Of course." She sniffled.

"Let's move out, team!" Scott ordered as he hoisted the lifeless Black Ranger over his shoulder.

"Wait!" Flynn exclaimed. "We need to find a way to keep Summer from seeing him! Don't we?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we need all the time we can get. Come on!" Scott yelled. As he and his friends ran back to their cars, he pulled out his Morpher and dialed Dr. K's frequency. "Doc K, it's Scott. We have a ranger down and we need an emergency OR ready for him when we get there! Our ETA is five minutes!" he shouted. He didn't even wait for an answer, he just slammed his Morpher closed and kept running.


	20. Life Saving Memories

After receiving Scott's message, Doctor K rose cautiously from her desk. She didn't want to give Summer any indication that something had happened. But her nervous demeanor gave her away, Summer knew something wasn't right.

"What is it, Doctor K?" Summer asked feeling a little worried. It was never good if Doctor K seemed nervous.

"Yes…just…peachy." She replied nervously. She sounded nothing like herself.

"Peachy?" Summer asked, that was never a word the doctor would have used, it was obvious she was hiding something from her. "Please tell me what's wrong." She felt her voice beginning to become shaky.

Doctor K just sighed before she answered. "I'm sorry, Summer. I have something that I need to take care of." She told her, walking towards the infirmary section of the Garage. She could barely look at Summer, much less tell her what had happened. She didn't blame Summer for being suspicious, she _did_ suddenly kill all of the monitors, then mysteriously left the room. she just hoped that whatever needed to be done to save Ranger Black, for Summer's sake, she could do it.

"Doctor K!" Summer called out, making her stop. "Did something happen to Dillon?"

Before the doctor could answer, the doors to the Garage busted open. And in ran Scott with Dillon thrown over his shoulder, with Flynn, Ziggy and Taryn following behind. Summer's eyes grew horribly wide when she saw the condition Dillon was in, she could tell that something really bad had happened. She felt even worse when everyone but Flynn darted past her and to the infirmary.

"Flynn, what happened?!" Summer asked harshly.

The Blue Ranger just took her shoulders gently. "Summer…" he began.

"What happened, Flynn? Why is Dillon unconscious?" She asked, increasing her volume.

"Summer…Dillon got badly hurt while fighting the Silver Swordsman. He took a blow for Taryn, and as of now he's…" he trailed off, his face falling sad.

"What?!" Summer screamed, demanding an answer. "Paralyzed? In a coma? What?!"

"Gone." Flynn told her softly, closing his eyes as he spoke. He couldn't bring himself to look at her; he knew that this would kill her.

Summer felt her breath leave her and her legs turn to jelly. What Flynn said couldn't be true, it just couldn't. She just stood there for a moment and tried to fathom what the Blue Ranger had just told her. She felt like she was in some sort of nightmare, only in this case, she couldn't wake up.

"Gone?" She asked breathlessly. "As in…destroyed?" Tears began to fill her eyes as she looked to the floor.

Flynn placed his finger under her chin softly and made her look at him. "Listen to me, Summer, Ziggy found something that may be able to help him, it's not 100% certain, but there is a chance." He told her.

"I have to go and see him!!" Summer cried, beginning to run to the infirmary. Flynn grabbed her arm to stop her. "Let go, Flynn!"

Flynn didn't loosen his grip. "I'm sorry, I can't let you go back there." He told her. "You're too emotionally involved in this." He felt terrible telling Summer that she couldn't see the man she loved when he may be gone forever, but it was something he had to do. He had to try and protect her when Dillon couldn't.

"Taryn's back there!" She retaliated, pointing back to the infirmary.

"Aye, I know, but she's a robotic human like she is, she may know things about his hardware that can help save him." Flynn explained.

Tears flowed out of Summer's eyes as she ran her fingers through her hair. She turned around, not able to look at Flynn. "I can't believe this." She said lowly. After a moment she turned to Flynn with sad eyes. "Did Scott tell him what I said?" she asked.

Flynn shook his head for a moment before he answered. "No. He didn't get a chance. But he did want me to tell _you_ something."

"What?" Summer asked, walking closer to him.

He paused before he answered; he knew that this wouldn't be an easy thing for Summer to hear given the circumstances. He sighed before he spoke. "That…he loves you, Summer—very much." He said gently.

Summer exhaled sharply and just stared dead ahead at anything. "Wow. I can't believe it. That's what I wanted Scott to tell him for me." She admitted, another tear falling down her face. With that, she just collapsed into Flynn's arms; he held her close as she wept against his chest. He could feel her tears through his shirt. He just stroked her head and held her tight.

"We can't give up, Summer." He told her, fighting back tears himself. "We have to have faith."

Scott, Ziggy, Taryn and Doctor K all rushed into the infirmary that somewhat resembled an OR. There was a steel metal table that was used for any surgeries or injuries that needed to be attended to in the middle of the room. Tables along the walls were covered in medical supplies from gauze to syringes.

Scott gently laid Dillon on the table where Doctor K immediately placed a small wire into his arm and taped it in place. It was much like the robotic I.V.s that Venjix had used on him and Taryn years ago.

"What's that?!" Ziggy asked in horror.

"An I.V. like substance…for machines." Doctor K answered lowly. She didn't want to offend Taryn by being so blunt; knowing that she had needed one of these at some point, but time was of the essence. "It'll help bring his circuits back to normal for the time being." She went on.

"Well, first things first." Scott told them. "We need to get that wound he has closed." He said, pointing to the large gash in Dillon's side.

"I can do it." Taryn answered softly. The rangers and Doctor K all shot a confused glance her way. "I…used to have to repair the Grinders that got banged up in battle for Venjix." She told them, hanging her head in shame.

"Will you be able to handle this?" Ziggy asked her, patting her shoulder.

"He's my brother…I have to try." She said teary eyed.

"Okay then." Doctor K said quickly. She handed Taryn an alcohol pad and medical scissors ready to sew him up. Taryn hesitantly took them in her hands and walked over to her brother. She grabbed his black t-shirt and ripped it open around his wound so she could work. She let out a slight gasp when she saw how large the laceration was, but she shook it off. She wiped him down with the alcohol pad and then threw it away, preparing to get started.

"Okay. Now what do we do?" Scott asked, trying to take the focus off of Taryn so she didn't feel pressured.

"We use this." Ziggy answered, pulling out the small object that had fallen out of the watch earlier. It looked like a tiny disc that was shiny on both sides.

"What does it do?" Scott asked him.

Doctor K stepped forward to answer the question for him. "It goes into the cybernetic slit on the back of his neck. All of Venjix's programs have them. There, everything about the program is controlled, if he wanted to change something about it, all he would have to do is insert the appropriate disk." She explained.

"Seriously?" Scott asked, feeling that this all sounded pretty farfetched.

"It's true." Taryn chimed in, pausing from her work. "I have one too."

"Really?" Ziggy asked in shock.

With that, Taryn placed her medical tools down and turned around. She lifted her hair and revealed her neck to them. There, there was a small black slit that looked like a coin slot. After she gave them a look, she turned back to her task.

"It's like Venjix's mark that he leaves on his workers." She admitted sadly.

Upon hearing this, Scott lifted Dillon's head up slowly, pushing his hair away from his neck. And there it was, just like Taryn had. "She's right—here it is." He said.

"Now all you have to do is insert the disc." Doctor K told them.

"And that'll revive him, right?" Ziggy asked the doctor.

"It _should_." K answered bluntly. "This looks like the regeneration disc that Venjix created for himself in the event something ever should happen to him." She said, scratching her head. "I don't know why he'd ever put it in a watch though."

"_I_ did that." Taryn said suddenly.

"You? How could _you_ have done it?" Scott asked confusedly.

"When Dillon and I were captured, I saw it lying on a table with all of Venjix's important supplies. I was still pretty out of it from the accident and must've forgotten I had it. I remember now that I took it to prevent Venjix from being able to bring himself back to life if he should ever be destroyed. I hid it in the watch so that he'd never find it." She explained, a small glimmer of happiness starting to enter her voice.

"Anything's worth a try." Ziggy told them.

"Then let's try it." Scott said with a small smile. He was just happy that there was a chance that Dillon would be okay, for Taryn's sake, and for Summer's.

"Yeah." Taryn replied, cutting the excess thread from Dillon's side. She applied a bandage and placed her hand on the wound gently, hoping her work would prove useful. She then walked over to Scott's side and handed him the disk. "Be gentle with him." She told the Red Ranger.

"You got it." He replied, patting her shoulder. Then Scott slowly lifted Dillon's head again and pushed his hair back. He examined the slit in his neck, and then carefully inserted the disk. After he did that, he placed Dillon's head slowly back down. Small whirring sounds filled the room as the team looked at the Black Ranger expectantly.

Suddenly, Dillon jerked upward with a gasp. He looked around with a panicked look on his face but seemed to calm when he caught glimpse of his sister. He blinked his eyes quickly to try and focus his vision. She pet his head softly and a huge smile crossed her face.

"It's alright." She assured him through tears of joy. "You're alright."


	21. In Your Arms Again

Outside of the infirmary, Summer paced back and forth, biting on her thumb nervously. Her mind was going a million miles a minute. Over and over in her head she just kept praying that Dillon would be alright. Not knowing anything was killing her, she felt as if she would burst if she didn't get the results soon. Flynn just stood against the wall with his arms folded watching Summer pace. He was almost as nervous as she was, but tried his best to be strong for her if things took a turn for the worse.

What felt like an eternity later, Scott emerged from the OR with a serious look on his face. When Summer saw him she immediately ran over to him, her heart was pounding.

"Well?" Summer asked in a panic.

A warm smile came over Scott's face. "He's going to be fine. Everything went perfectly." He told her.

Summer just let out a heavy sigh of relief and threw her arms around Scott. "Thank you, Scott." She said breathlessly. "Thank you."

After they separated, Scott patted the Yellow Ranger's shoulder. "He wants to see you. Go on." He smiled at her.

"Okay." Summer said with a huge smile. She turned to run into the infirmary, but halfway there she stopped and ran back to Scott. She stroked his cheek and smiled at him. "I don't know how I'll ever repay you for this." She told him.

"It's on the house." He replied sweetly. With that, Summer had to hug him again. She was so lucky to have the friends she did, and as far as she was concerned, Scott was her brother, and she loved him. After their hug she ran off to go see the man she had fallen for.

After she was gone Flynn pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to Scott. He gave him a friendly slap on the back and a chuckle. "You really came through this time. Summer would have been devastated if anything were to happen to Dillon." He told him.

"I'm just glad it all worked out…" Scott said with a contented sigh. "…for everyone's sakes."

When Summer made it to the infirmary, she saw Ziggy, Taryn and Doctor K all talking with the Black Ranger. She hung behind for a moment so that Taryn could celebrate the fact that her brother was alive again. After a few minutes, they all saw her and began to disperse.

"I'm going to go see…Flynn." Ziggy said, trying to think of a good excuse to leave so Summer and Dillon could be alone.

"Yes, and I've got some busy work to complete." Dr. K added as she left the room behind Ziggy, with her hands buried deep in her lab coat pockets. She and Ziggy both smiled at Summer happily as they passed her.

Taryn gave Dillon a kiss on the forehead before she left. "See you later, brother." She said softly.

"See ya." He replied in a weak voice, a smile spreading across his face. As Taryn left the room, she gave Summer a happy look which she returned.

The Yellow Ranger's face went serious when she looked back to Dillon. She hated seeing him laid up in a bed like this. He was such a tough ranger, and seeing him injured like this was hard for her to take. She was thrilled that he was okay, but hated to see him looking helpless.

"Hi, Summer." He said softly, his breaths coming slow and tired.

"Hi." She replied with a small wave. She just looked at him with tear filled eyes. She was so happy to see that the Dillon she loved had finally returned to her. All of her qualms of him destroying her faded in that moment. She couldn't contain it anymore; she just ran to his bed and threw herself on him, kissing him, wrapping her arms around him. This was what she had been waiting for. Just feeling his warm touch was enough to make her content. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she kissed him. From their kiss they went into a tight embrace.

"I love you, Summer." Dillon told her sweetly. "God, so much."

"I love you too, Dillon." She replied lying against his chest, closing her eyes. "I've missed you."

He just brought her face to his and stroked the tears away from her cheek. "Well, I'm here now and I'm never leaving you again." He said lovingly.

"I'm going to hold you to that." She replied. Then she and Dillon locked into another deep kiss. They finally had what they wanted all along—they had each other.

About a week later everything seemed back to normal for the most part. That day in Corinth was a beautiful one. Not a cloud was in the sky and the breeze was light. Birds chirped happily from their nests and the sun projected the perfect amount of warmth. Ziggy and Taryn held hands as they walked down the sidewalk, just enjoying one another's company.

"So, uh…" Ziggy began, staring at the concrete. "Have you remembered anything more about your life?"

"Sadly, no." She replied with a small sigh. "But I'm trying not to live in the past anymore. I want to focus on the future." Suddenly, she stopped walking and turned to the Green Ranger. "Starting with you."

"Me?" Ziggy asked, pointing to his chest.

"You were there for me when no one else was. You talked with me—made me feel like I belong." She said smiling at him.

"You do belong." He told her, brushing her hair from her face. "Right here."

As the two went in for a kiss, a car horn interrupted them, making them jump slightly. They turned to see Dillon in his car with his windows down.

"Hey there." He said with a sly grin.

"Dillon, my pal! What're you doing here?" Ziggy asked through his teeth.

"Just running to the store. I'm planning something special for Summer tonight." He told the pair.

"That's sweet." Taryn said sweetly. "That's just like my brother to be romantic." She grinned.

"And what're _you_ two up to today?" Dillon asked, the sly look still on his face. He could tell that he was embarrassing Ziggy a little, but Dillon couldn't help but razz him a little.

"Just taking a little _innocent_ walk around town." Ziggy insisted.

"Good. Because that's my sister—my _only_ sister, so I'm looking out for her." Dillon told the Green Ranger as he placed a pair of black shades over his eyes. "I've got my eye on you, Zigg!" he teased him, and then pulled off.

Ziggy just turned to Taryn totally mortified. "Um…uh—" he stammered.

"Oh, he's just playing with you." Taryn assured him. "Just trying to be the heroic big brother. He wants to intimidate you."

"I-it'll never work." Ziggy joked nervously. "Now where were we?" he asked.

Taryn placed a finger to her chin and looked at him. "Hmm…I'd say right about here." She said, leaning in closer kissing him softly. The two wrapped their arms around one another. After their kiss, they remained in each other's arms.

"The perfect place." Ziggy told her.

"And by the way," Taryn began, looking lovingly in the Green Ranger's eyes. "my favorite color…is green." She grinned. And then the two shared yet another romantic kiss.

A few hours later, Summer was up in her room brushing her hair. As she brushed she looked to her nightstand to see the cotton candy picture of she and Dillon, which made her smile. For the first time in a long time, everything seemed to be going right—she was truly happy. She had the Dillon she fell in love with back in her life, and he had found his sister to boot. Everything was perfect.

She jumped when she heard her Morpher go off. She quickly grabbed it from her vanity and held it up to her ear. She noticed that it was Scott on the feed.

"What is it, Scott? Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.

"There's trouble in town, we need to get the team together immediately!" He shouted through the Morpher.

"Aye!" Flynn's voice chimed in. "Venjix is up to no good again. Please hurry!"

"I'll be right there!" She assured them. She thought that this all seemed to good to be true. She just wanted that perfect moment to last forever. But this was reality, and things needed to be taken care of.

So she placed her brush on the vanity and bolted out of the room as quickly as she could. When she made it down the stairs, she noticed that the entire Garage was strung with small white lights. A candlelit table sat in the middle of the room and soft music filled the air. Summer just looked around in pure shock. Upon entering the room further, she noticed Dillon standing there in black slacks and a black button up shirt, holding a single red rose in his hands.

"Hello, Summer." He said with a romantic smile. Summer's eyes lit up as she walked closer to him. she never remembered him looking more handsome than he had in this moment.

"What's all this?" she asked with a beaming smile.

Dillon just made his way over to her slowly. "Just a little something I planned for you…with a little help." He said, cocking his head to the right. And there was Scott and Flynn holding their Morphers with mischievous looks on their faces. They just let out a small laugh and fist bumped one another for a job well done, and then left the room.

Summer thought Scott and Flynn's help in Dillon's plan was too sweet; she loved to have so many wonderful people in her left. She looked down at the table beside her to see two plates and two wine glasses.

When she saw what the plates and cups held, she let out a surprised gasp. "Steak and wine?" she asked happily. "How'd you pull this off?"

"Well, I cleared everything with Doctor K first, which that in itself wasn't easy, and Flynn helped cook the food." He told her, handing Summer the rose. "Turns out fruit smoothies isn't the only thing he can make well."

Summer took the rose from Dillon and smelled it. She then looked up to him with a wide smile. "Why did you do all of this?" she asked him.

Dillon suddenly got a somewhat serious look on his face and looked down to the floor. "I put you through a lot lately. I just wanted to do something special for you…to apologize." He said looking up to her.

Summer just placed her hand on his cheek. "You don't have to." She said softly. She took a glance around at everything once more. "This is…so beautiful." She said sweetly. "Thank you."

Dillon placed his hands on Summer's shoulders and looked lovingly into her eyes. "Thank _you_ for not giving up on me, even when I did." He told her.

"You're worth it." She told him. "I love you, Dillon." She told him.

Dillon just looked over her for a moment, taking in everything he loved about her. He ran his fingers through her hair as he stroked her head. "I love you too, Summer." He replied. Then the two shared a long and romantic kiss in one another's arms. After a few moments, he stepped back and extended a hand out to her. "Care to dance?" he asked her.

Summer looked at his hand and then took it in hers. "I'd love to." She smiled. Then the two began to dance slowly with one another. Just swaying slowly with the music, holding one another close. They were where they long to be—in one another's arms. They had each other, and that's all that mattered.

THE END

**A/N:**** I hope you all liked this story. Thanks to all who reviewed or put it on their alert lists. I love to hear from all of you, so feel free to leave feedback. Just no flames, please! Thanks for reading!**


End file.
